Fourth Year
by atrfla
Summary: Alyssa "Aly" Salinger hopes her fourth year at Hogwarts will be normal- after all, she's been through a lot. But a tyrannical Headmaster who thinks it's all a great fun joke has taken over the school! As the death count rises, Aly wonders: will she and her friends make it out alive? The second in my Salinger Year series- read the prequel, "Fifth Year", and sequel, "First Year"!
1. Chapter 1: Platform 9 and Three-Quarters

***takes a deep breath* Ah, it's so nice to be back! To all you old fans, welcome back- to everyone who's just now discovering my** ** _Salinger Year_** **series, welcome! You should probably go check out Fifth Year if you haven't already, it's both the prequel and the sequel to this story.**

 **You're probably all wondering why in the name of Hogwarts I decided to post today. Well, today's a very special day. IT'S ALY SALINGER'S BIRTHDAY! *throws confetti into the air* You can thank the girl who inspired Lanie for deciding today was Aly's birthday.**

 **Okay, enough rambling. And now... *draws back curtains* Muggles and squibs, witches and wizards, I present to you...** ** _Fourth Year_** **!**

I burst through the brick barrier onto Platform 9¾, my parents right behind me. Almost immediately I heard my name, and I turned to see Brooklyn- my best friend.

"Brooklyn!" I laughed, and we hugged. I'd seen her over the summer holidays, but it had still been a few weeks.

Brooklyn was followed by her soon-to-be-second-year sister, Libby, and her parents. Our mothers hugged, and I was struck (not for the first time) by how different they looked, even though they were identical twins. Brooklyn's mother- Cassiopeia, or Cassie- wore her hair long and straight when she hadn't braided it like she had that day. My mother- Hesper- wore her hair long too, only it was wavy and she typically wore it up in a chignon at the nape of her neck. They were both descendants of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and although Brooklyn's mum married pureblood Karan Vawdrey, my mum married blood traitor Benjamin Salinger. Still, the House of Black wasn't as pure as it had been fifty years ago and my mum hadn't been disowned like she would have then.

"Ben," Brooklyn's father greeted my father, slapping him on the back.

"Karan," my father greeted him, shaking his hand. "Nice to see you again." He smiled. My father was quick to laugh and good at jokes, and he always had a mischievous, happy glint in his green eyes.

"The same to you," Brooklyn's father replied, and they started chatting about the latest type of broomstick while our mothers talked about the death of a distant cousin from the Longbottom family.

Brooklyn grinned at me. "So, are you excited?"

"Very," I declared. "Ready for more Ancient Runes?"

Brooklyn raised an eyebrow and did a very good imitation of our Ancient Runes professor, Professor Ross-Campbell. "Oh, my lesson plans! Wherever have they gone?"

I giggled, covering my mouth. "You shouldn't speak about her like that! What if someone heard you?"

Libby tugged at Brooklyn's arm. "Brooklyn, we've got to go. I see Shellie, and it's time to board the train anyways."

Shellie was Libby's best friend, and the petite blonde was indeed waving at Libby from where she stood with her other friends ten feet away. Brooklyn sighed, wrenching her wrist from her redheaded sister's grip. "Fine, fine. Let's say goodbye to Mum and Dad first."

I took her advice even though it wasn't meant for me, hugging my father and kissing my mum on the cheek. "We're going to go find our friends."

My mother seized me and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Don't forget to eat well-rounded meals, and be nice to your professors, and I heard there's a new Headmaster so don't be too hard on him as it's his first year and-"

"Mum, it's Professor Damien," I said, wriggling out of her grip. He was the nicest of the professors except for the Potions teacher, Professor Fourier, and he was the only one who let us call him by his first name. "He likes us and he's an excellent teacher. I'm sure he'll be fine as Headmaster."

"-well, be nice to him anyways," my mum sighed. "Also, don't skip classes and make sure to keep your grades up and get enough sleep-"

"Hesper," my dad said, "this is Aly you're talking to. She'll be fine. Has she ever skipped or failed a class?"

"...no," Mum conceded. "Let me speak, Benjamin." She pulled me close. "Just be careful, dear. I have a bad feeling about this year."

"You've said that every year since her second year," Father murmured.

"And I've been right every time!" Mum retorted, and I used her distractedness to peck her and my father on the cheeks and then grabbed my trunk and owl. Brooklyn was waiting for me, and we disappeared together into the crowd.

We waved hello to friends as we struggled through the crowd. Brooklyn made eye contact with my first-year crush, Conor Mathieson, and blushed- actually _blushed._ I spotted the parents of Ella Nguyen, a shy choir girl with a sheet of black hair, but not Ella herself; she must have already found her best friend Alexandra Zobrist and boarded the train. Brooklyn almost got sidetracked by a group of her fourth-year Slytherin roommates, including Katy Beaurepaire and Maile Quentin (two pretty blondes who were absolute best friends) and led by Alejandra "Leja" Rice- a girl with sharp features, long wavy light brown hair, and a love for dancing. Luckily, I was able to pull Brooklyn away, assuring her that she'd see them after the feast.

We found our other best friend, Rossalene Chung, quite by accident. We were fighting through the horde of parents and students and siblings, trying to get to the scarlet Hogwarts Express, when we stumbled right into Rossalene and her family. Ross had a little brother, second-year Joshua who was in Gryffindor like Libby, but he was nowhere to be seen; instead, it was just Rossalene and her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Chung were both Asian, but Mr. Chung was a half-blood where Mrs. Chung was Muggle-born. They were talking to each other in rapid Chinese while Rossalene looked impatiently around, trunk in her hand.

"Brooklyn! Aly!" she cried when she saw us, pushing her long, shiny black hair out of her face with her free hand. "I was wondering where you were!" She hugged us both more tightly than anyone else hugged us (Rossalene was a hugger). "Mum, Da, look- it's Aly and Brooklyn!"

Mr. and Mrs. Chung stopped chattering to each other and smiled at us.

"Aline! Brooklyn!" Mr. Chung said in accented English. He had always mispronounced my name, and I'd stopped correcting him after my second year. "How nice to see you."

Mrs. Chung was small and dainty but she had a loud voice. "Aly, Brooklyn," she nearly boomed. "Long time no see!" She gathered us up in hugs nearly as fierce as her daughter's. "How have you been, girls?"

"Fine," Brooklyn mumbled at the same time that I said, "Good!"

"Let's go," Rossalene said, yanking at our sleeves. She hugged both of her parents ("Oof!" her father puffed) and pulled us towards the train.

We found an empty compartment and heaved our trunks onto the racks above the seats. I let Peltie, my slender tawny owl, out of her cage. Brooklyn freed her huge, formidable black owl Maycott from his birdcage. Rossalene cooed and reached toward them both- she loved animals of all kinds, even toads, which I thought were too slimy and gross. Maycott turned away and flapped up to perch beside Brooklyn's trunk- he was moody and occasionally uncooperative, and Brooklyn loved him for just that- but Peltie hooted gently and landed on her shoulder. I handed Rossalene an owl treat to feed to my beautiful pet, which she promptly did.

The train whistled and started to move. Rossalene abandoned playing with Peltie for a moment to join Brooklyn and I at the window, where we sought out our families and waved to them. I saw some of my other friends' families- the tall mother and even taller father of Lanie Kelling, last year's Quidditch Seeker on the Ravenclaw team and whose father worked at the _Daily Prophet_ with my mother; the bald dad and petite blonde mum of Polly Lider, a girl who Brooklyn positively hated due to her betrayal in our second year; and the pretty mum and lanky father of Nathan Price, my ex-boyfriend from last year. I waved to my dad with his curly brown hair and my mother with her sleek, elegant chignon, who were waving wildly back, until we rounded the corner and they disappeared from my view.

 **All right! Hope you guys liked it. And once again, happy birthday to Aly!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Sorting

**The greatest of thanks to RavenRoset, the inspiration for Brooklyn, for helping me revise and rewrite this chapter. Without her input, this chapter would be way worse than it is now!**

Sitting in the Great Hall before the Sorting, I wasn't feeling hungry. After all of the Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Cauldron Cakes on the Hogwarts Express, I was nearly stuffed. Already I'd broken one of my mother's wishes: filling myself with candy was definitely not eating a well-rounded meal.

The line of first-years paraded in, led by the Deputy Headmaster (I'd been pleased to find out that the new Deputy was Professor Fourier, as that meant my two favorite teachers ruled the school). Professor Fourier smiled and winked at us all as he steered the Sortees up to the very front of the room, in front of the professors' table. Then he pulled two things from seemingly thin air: a small three-legged stool and a raggedy wizard's hat that everyone recognized as the Sorting Hat.

Professor Fourier had not even withdrawn his hand from the brim of the hat when it opened its mouth wide. Expecting a song, we were all shocked when it opened its mouth to mutter words that grew as the Hat shared.

"In the brightest light, even a shadow can be seen.

Do not trust who might seem trustworthy….

Do not believe a liar nor run with the trickster!-"

With a flick of Headmaster Damien's wand, all of the doors slammed shut in unison. The hat zoomed to the tall man's hand, and he silenced it with another muttered spell. Then he stepped forward and tossed the Sorting Hat carelessly to the side. Everyone gasped at the disrespectful action.

"From now on," he shouted, "I suggest you do not listen to that old, possibly crazy, Sorting Hat." His piercing blue eyes were so kind and cheerful with a distant hint of a feral sharpness. "It will Sort you into your Houses and nothing more. As the new ruler of Hogwarts School, this I declare." His smile was savage and cruel.

Everyone was frozen, staring at him, and he impatiently glared at us. "I will kill anyone who is disloyal to me."

We all stayed frozen, until he waved his hand to dismiss the moment. "I'm just joking with you."

He smiled harshly and flicked his wrist- and the scruffy, ancient hat flew back into his hand. "Now, Hat," he ordered. "Sort them… and we can continue with this _momentous_ occasion."

He threw the Sorting Hat to Professor Fourier, who carefully caught it. Cautiously, nervously, the Potions teacher unrolled a scroll with his free hand and said in a voice that quaked just the right amount, "When I call your name, please come sit upon the stool and I will place the hat upon your head… Abernathy, Thaddeus."

A small, frightened African-American boy crept forward and perched lightly on the stool, which rocked a bit.

"Hufflepuff," the Hat said without any of its usual vigor. Thaddeus Abernathy edged away to sit at the yellow-and-black table, and no one applauded for fear of being yelled at… or worse, killed.

"Alberts, Ivory."

"Ravenclaw."

I smiled at Ivory Alberts as she tiptoed up and took a seat a few feet down the Ravenclaw table from me. She was tall for her age and had a dainty face framed in wavy white-blond locks.

"Auteberry, Brayden."

"Gryffindor."

The names started to speed by. Bartram, Tabitha… Gryffindor. Bellamy, Cameron… Slytherin. Bennett, Lilianna… Ravenclaw. Boyce, Dean… Slytherin. I kept my eyes fixed on Headmaster Damien as he ran his hands through his mussed black hair, making it messier and growing more agitated with every second that passed. It was obvious that he was getting impatient and wanted the Sorting to be over.

I recognized only one Sortee. Zola Greene was the younger sister of my arch-nemesis from the previous year, Will Greene. I knew Will adored her and probably expected her to be in Ravenclaw along with him.

"Greene, Zola."

Little Zola climbed the steps. When she had turned away from Headmaster Damien to sit on the drool, she flashed Will- who was sitting a few seats up from me- a quick, glancing smile.

"Slytherin."

" _What_?" I heard Will gasp. It was the only word in the silent hall. I held my breath, but Headmaster Damien didn't seem to have noticed. Instead, he motioned for Professor Fourier to call the next name.

"Guire, Daisy."

"Gryffindor."

Headley, Linette… Slytherin. Hewitt, Lionel… Hufflepuff. Hobbes, Lenore… Gryffindor. Huddleson, Whitney… Ravenclaw.

"Overton, Chrissy" had just been Sorted into Hufflepuff when Headmaster Damien yowled, "Stop!" He came down and picked his way down the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. He passed so close to me that the edge of his robes brushed a stray curl on the back of my head. My body was frozen, but I turned my head to see him standing in front of Eli Lupin. He was a kind boy, prone to stuttering, with a permanently red face and brilliant white hair. Only… his hair wasn't white. It was turquoise. I cocked my head in confusion. Had he gotten in the way of a bad Color-Changing Charm over the summer? Or had he dyed it?

Headmaster Damien picked up a lock of Eli's short hair and rubbed it between his fingers. "Dye your hair over the summer, did you, son?"

"N- er- yes," Eli stammered. His face was an even brighter red than normal.

"Hm. Carry on," Headmaster Damien ordered Professor Fourier, dropping Eli's hair and making his way back to the dais. On the way, he stopped and conferred with Professor Fourier, and after that the Sorting picked up its pace. Pemberton, Stanley- Gryffindor! Penny, Sinclair- Slytherin! Queshire, Gilbert- Ravenclaw! Rains, Digby- Slytherin!

I exchanged a quick glance with Brooklyn, who was sitting a little ways up the Slytherin table. _That was weird._

Finally, the list of names ended with Avelyn York, who joined us at the Ravenclaw table. Headmaster Damien stood and glared at Professor Fourier. "Finally," he intoned. "I'm starving. Don't let that happen next year." His laughter that followed the statement seemed lighthearted but there was something unsettling about it.

I shuddered at the thought of dealing with this new Headmaster Damien for a whole year… or more.

"We should get this feast started!" Headmaster Damien called, knocking on the table and standing, holding his arms out to gesture to each table. "And only the finest."

Then the plates in front of us filled with delicacies, savory pies and tarts and soufflés, potatoes and greens and puddings. Everyone except Headmaster Damien seemed to have lost their appetite.

Headmaster Damien glared at us. "What are you waiting for?" he invited, but suddenly his tone was more cunning and commanding than friendly. "Eat!"

So we ate. Everyone suddenly discovered their appetites- even I found myself hungry- and loaded their plates with food. I ate methodically, mechanically shoveling soufflé and salad into my mouth and chewing. The food wasn't bland, in fact it was quite delicious, but I barely tasted it. My mind was spinning horribly and all I could think was, _Maybe it's a dream. Maybe I'm asleep in my bed at home and I'll wake up and none of this has happened…_

This thought remained in my head as we finished. Headmaster Damien was full and so ordered us to go back to our dormitories, limited talking allowed.

In the hallway I could see Brooklyn struggling to make contact with me, waving wildly and mouthing something. Her effort didn't last long as she was swept away by crowd of Slytherin second years with Leja leading the charge.

We stumbled down corridors and up stairs, and I burst into the fourth-year Ravenclaw girls' dormitory for the first time. My trunk was there, and I unpacked quickly as my dorm-mates straggled in. First, as I folded my clothes and put them in drawers, Polly Lider. Then Lanie Kelling as I lined up my books by my bed, followed closely by her best friend and the former Ravenclaw Quidditch Keeper Shawnee Haven. Millie Thresher, the most popular Ravenclaw girl in the year, slumped in with her best friend, Helen MacDougal. The final Ravenclaw fourth-year girl came in while I was getting ready for bed. Lynne Turnip was French and had transferred from Beauxbatons in our second year. When she spoke quietly, I could still hear a touch of a French accent. "How have you all been?"

"Shh," Helen whispered nervously. "Do you want him to hear us?"

"This is the girls' dormitory," Lynne whispered back. "He can't."

"Let's just go to bed," Millie sighed softly. And as we lay in the dark, the silky light of the moon filtering in through the windows, the thought came to my mind again. _Maybe it's all… just a… dream…_

 **So school's getting out and chances are I'll write a lot over the summer. I might be taking a couple breaks to work on my other stories, though, so hopefully this can hold you guys for a little while?**

 **Also, any ideas/reviews/critique will be appreciated!**

 **~atrfla**


	3. Chapter 3: First Day

Of course, it wasn't a dream. I woke up the next morning to find my roommates staring at each other with the same sad expressions on their faces as I'm sure I had. Normally we chatted about _Witch Weekly_ or the newest kind of broomsticks that Quality Quidditch Supplies had in stock. But today… today was different. The only noise in the dormitory was the birds chirping outside as they woke up to what was probably a glorious day for them. For us, however… it was the first full day of hell on Earth.

Millie and Helen had woken up first, so they were the first to leave. Lanie and Shawnee exited soon after, heading down to the Great Hall for some breakfast, I presumed. Polly slipped out very quickly afterwards, no doubt following them. This left Lynne and I to walk down together, and my thoughts were so muddled that I would've gotten lost had it not been for quick-minded Lynne. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would've been to get lost on the way to the Great Hall as a _fourth-year_?

There were heaps of eggs, piles of toast, bowls of jam and platters of scones arranged in masses on the tables, but no one seemed to be touching the food except for a few hungry Hufflepuff first-years. As Headmaster Damien wasn't in the room, everyone's eyes seemed to be on the doors, flicking back and forth between the huge pair typically used for entering and the many side entrances. Finally, Professor Fourier- who was one of only four teachers in the Hall- stood up. "Eat," he intoned. "We mustn't starve to death on our first day of classes!" He tried to sound lighthearted and cheerful, but he sounded worried, like we would die in other ways. I hoped not.

So we dug halfheartedly into the food. I covered a scone in strawberry jam and nibbled unenthusiastically on it, and my friends seemed just as lackadaisical. Our Heads of House- Professor Fourier had been the Head of Ravenclaw House since my first year- passed out our schedules. As he reached my group of friends, he whispered, "Cheer up, girls. You have my class third tomorrow, and a double period last on Friday. I'll try to make it as normal as possible. Sound good?"

We all nodded- at least Professor Fourier hadn't changed at all- before he moved on down the table to hand out paper scrolls to a group of seventh-years. I saw Kitty Willis, Reuben Alfray and Zachary Henson, last year's Ravenclaw Quidditch team Chasers (and, for Kitty, Captain) accept their schedules, and Kitty caught my gaze. She smiled and wiggled her fingers a little, attracting the attention of Reuben and Zach. All three were blonde, with skin tones ranging from nearly as pale as me (Kitty) to golden brown (Zach), and occasionally people mistook them for siblings. They definitely acted like it, moving as one seamless team on and off the Quidditch pitch. Zach and Reuben joined Kitty in waving.

I scooted down to sit by them, feeling a bit more relaxed. "Hi, guys."

"Hi, Aly," Kitty greeted me cheerfully. Kitty was always smiling; in fact, I'd never seen her frowning or sad. Even when we lost a Quidditch match, she was always upbeat. "Nice to be back, huh?"

I swear all four of us were so silent that you could've heard a pin drop. To get off the subject, I said hurriedly, "How was your summer?"

Reuben grinned and answered first. "I went back to America." He had a thick Southern accent, with flat vowels and stretched-out consonants. "My mom was real happy to see me, and Sarah, too. She practic'ly squealed and squeezed me t' death."

I giggled a little. I had seen pictures of Sarah, a cute little nine-year-old bundle of energy with tufted blond pigtails, and although I'd never met Reuben's little sister I could clearly picture her hugging her seventeen-year-old brother tightly. "What about you, Zach?"

"Annie and I were happy to be home," he said gruffly. It wasn't that Zach was bad-tempered, he just had a very deep voice. "Annie especially, since it was her first summer home after a school year. Mum and Father were pleased to have us back. They were lonely with both of us gone."

Kitty sighed. "See, I don't have any sibling stories. I went home, I visited a few friends around Guildford and Woking, I went to Diagon Alley- oh!" She grinned at us. "Scratch that, I _do_ have something to tell you! Guess who promised me a tryout after I graduate this year!"

"Who?" Zach and Reuben asked together.

Kitty grabbed one of their hands with each of hers and leaned forward eagerly. "Rylan Raynott."

"The captain of the _Appleby Arrows_?" I whispered quickly, astonished.

"The very one," Kitty replied happily.

"You're kidding," I whistled.

"Not at all," she said with a smile.

I got the feeling that she'd really meant only to tell Reuben and Zach- after all, they were her best friends and the three of them were practically inseparable- so I scooted back down the table to Lynne, Lanie and Shawnee just as the main doors burst open.

Immediately, a wave of silence swept over the room.

Headmaster Damien stood regally at the entrance, staring out at us. His black hair was combed back and he seemed paler than I had ever seen him. He strode down the middle aisle, looking straight ahead as if we were beneath his notice, then claimed his seat and ate.

He ate, and ate, and ate. He shoveled food into his mouth like he hadn't had a meal in days. Eggs, toast, muffins, preserves, fruit- if it was within arm's reach, he ate it. Finally, when he was finished, he stood back up again and shouted, "Well? Get to your classes!"

We all scurried off like frightened rats. I saw some people grabbing muffins and toast as they ran, no doubt for friends who hadn't woken up early enough for breakfast. According to my schedule, my first class was Herbology, so I sprinted to the greenhouses in front of Lynne, Lanie, Shawnee, Millie, and Helen. Somehow, though, Polly got there before me. She was waiting half-hidden behind a bush with big pink rhododendrons dangling from its branches, her books piled high in her bag. It was new- pale blue with embroidery that looked like ivy winding its way up the strap, and it was pretty. I opened my mouth to compliment her on it, but something smashed into my temple and my head snapped to the side. My reflexes kicked in and I reached up and snatched a Snitch out of the air, holding my temple with my other hand. I turned quickly, but I was dizzy and the world spun around me. When I had regained my normal sight, I looked up to see a pack of boys and girls in black robes with bright red accents.

The Gryffindors had arrived.

One of the boys stepped forward. He was tall- probably an inch taller than me- and he'd definitely shot up since I'd last seen him. He had spiky light brown hair and bright turquoise-blue eyes that sparkled with a mischievous light.

"Hey, Aly," he chuckled, holding out his hand. "C'n I have that?"

I glared at him, still rubbing the side of my head. "How about an _I'm sorry_ , Nick? That hurt!" But I handed over the Snitch. I knew why he wanted it so badly- Nick Justice lived to play Quidditch, and he was the Seeker from last year's Gryffindor team. He was definitely a good player, and he rarely ever lost a match- mostly because he worshipped Quidditch.

He took the Snitch back. "Thanks. And I'm sorry." He grinned. "A little bit."

The boys split off from the girls, going to catch up with the pod of Ravenclaw boys who had just arrived. Some of the Gryffindor girls- the crowd who had been super-popular since the moment they stepped into Hogwarts' ancient halls- stood a ways away from us, giggling about something (probably the boys). The group was made up of flirty Elysa Scrope, quiet Lorie Braithnoch, pretty Asians Juliet Livesey and Liana Joulon, cynical Sami Wright, and finally queen bee Lea Henshawe, who twirled her blonde hair around one finger. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the three girls who remained in front of me- Tamsin Kay, Melissa Webb and Lyndsay Winters.

Melissa's best friends were both Hufflepuffs, so they weren't around, and so she and Tamsin stood together talking, but Lyndsay had been one of my best friends since first year. She also got along very well with Lanie, Shawnee, Lynne, Rossalene and Brooklyn, which made for a very nice little friend group. She was a Scottish girl with a penchant for wearing wide cloth headbands that held back her abundant waves of bronzed brown hair. At that time her headband was a dark creamy color patterned with vines of light and dark greens, and it worked well with her bright smile.

"'Ello, Aly, Lanie, Shawnee, Lynne," she greeted us in her ever-present thick accent. She always said my name more like _al-eh_ than _al-ee_ , but I didn't mind. "'Ow was yer summer?"

"All right," I said at the same time that Lynne shrugged and Lanie answered, "Pretty good." Shawnee didn't say anything at all; she was staring off into the distance. Occasionally she'd do that- slip into thought and daydream for a few minutes. It was a habit for her, and nobody bothered her for it.

"How was yours, Lyndsay?" Lynne inquired politely.

Lyndsay beamed. "Ah went home tae Broxburn. 'Twas nice seein' Mum and Da, an' Vince was missin' his Muggle friends, he was. 'E spent th' whole summer roamin' the neighborhood wi' Kyle, th' boy from next door. An' I read an' studied an'- did ye get mah owls, Lynne?"

"No," Lynne said with an apologetic shrug. "Sorry- a couple of Beauxbatons witches put up charms around the school so that no owls could get there over the summer, and since I live so close…"

"No harm done, lassie," Lyndsay grinned. "Ah understand."

"Ladies, gentlemen," called a strong, deep male voice. "Gather round, please, and form a line… we'll be working in Greenhouse Three again this year."

It was Professor Longbottom, an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and kind eyes. He had been one of Harry Potter's friends, back over fifty years ago, so he was regarded by Hogwarts students as our local celebrity. We would've loved him anyway, though. He was easily one of the nicest teachers there, preceded only by Professor Fourier and (formerly) Headmaster Damien, back when he was only the kind and eccentric Astronomy professor who enjoyed collecting antiques. We all followed his instructions and formed a large line beside him, smiles involuntarily touching our faces while we filed one by one into Greenhouse Three.

Professor Longbottom said hello to each of us as we passed. "…hello, Shawnee, off in one of the abysses of thought again, I see- Lanie, did you read those books I recommended for you over the summer? Lyndsay Winters, are the vines on that headband patterned off of what I think they are?"

"Are ye thinkin' o' Devil's Snare vines?" Lyndsay, whose love for Herbology was only surpassed by her love for Quidditch, inquired with a broad smile. "Because if ye are, ye're right!"

Professor Longbottom nodded knowingly, returning Lyndsay's smile. "I rather approve of that headband, then. Aly, you look ill! Are you all right?"

I bit my lip, indeed feeling a bit sick all of a sudden. How could they be discussing something as normal as a vine-patterned headband when a seemingly tyrannical Headmaster had taken over the school the night before, threatened to kill us all, and then pretended it was a _joke?_ I could already tell this year was going to be anything _but_ normal- so how could people pretend it was just another regular year at Hogwarts?

Although, thinking back… each year hadn't exactly been the paradise my parents had described time and again when I was younger. Evil spirits, deadly games, and I wasn't even going to _think_ about my third year. So maybe this year _was_ going to be typical- for me, at least.

But I nodded. "Yes, sir. Just a bit-" I searched for an excuse that could warrant my looking ill- "tired."

The corners of his lips twitched up in a pitying half-smile. "I can understand that. Last night was…" He took a deep breath. "Well, why don't you go inside and pick out a spot."

I followed his instructions, finding a seat next to Lanie. Soon after, Professor Longbottom entered and cleared his throat, silencing us with a simple cough, and began.

"Now, I'm aware that your schedules are a bit changed around this year." He gestured to the Ravenclaw side of the greenhouse. "Ravenclaws, you had my class with the Slytherins last year-" he turned his gaze to Nick, Lyndsay and the rest of the Lions- "and Gryffindors, you were with the Hufflepuffs. Well, as you're aware, this year is not going to be ordinary. All of your schedules have been switched up this year, for apparently no reason. Luckily, you're all at the same place in my curriculum- as you should be." He pointed to different areas of the classroom, listing the plants as he did so. "This year we'll be reviewing the properties of wolfsbane, fluxweed, and moly; revising the handling of Spiky Bushes and the Devil's Snare; learning about bobotuber pus and how to collect it; writing papers on the effects of plants such as gillyweed; studying charms such as the Fire-Making Spell, which I _know_ you have already done but our new Headmaster has ordered revision of, and the Herbivicus Charm; and examining plants like the Venomous Tentacula."

Gasps ripped through the room, and Lyndsay raised her hand. "Er- Professor Longbottom? En't that a plant f' the sixth-year classes?"

Professor Longbottom sighed, looking more defeated than I'd ever seen him. "Yes, it is, Lyndsay. Again, Headmaster Kayash has ordered some… _changes_ … to this year's curriculum. That is one of them- teaching younger students the more dangerous lessons. I can't say I approve, but it's hardly my place to speak."

I'd nearly forgotten that Headmaster Damien had a last name- Damien Kayash. He'd been Sorted into Slytherin in the late 2010's, as I'd learned when a few of my friends and I looked up all the teachers in the library last year. We'd agreed that Headmaster Damien- Professor Damien at the time- was like Brooklyn, one of the really nice Slytherins. How wrong we'd been.

I zoned out for the rest of the class. It was mostly Professor Longbottom explaining what we were going to do over the next year and answering questions about the changed curriculum. When the lesson was over, I slipped out the door along with the crush of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and headed for the Astronomy classroom.

Occasionally our Astronomy lesson was in an actual classroom, so I wasn't surprised to see Classroom 12 written on my schedule. However, I shouldn't have been surprised to see the teacher's desk occupied by a tall, sturdy woman with blonde hair that curled stiffly inwards at her shoulders. She had broad shoulders and looked more like a professional Beater than an Astronomy professor, and she fixed me with a steely blue gaze. "Sit in your chair, don't linger in the doorway."

I hastened to the seat she gestured to, which was right next to the seat of Katy Beaurepaire. I'd never had Astronomy with the Slytherins before, only the Hufflepuffs, so I didn't know how good my partner would be. In Astronomy class, I'd never worked on dual star charts with anyone but Ella Nguyen, and plus I'd rarely talked to Katy before. But Brooklyn slept in the bed right next to Katy's during the school year, and she always spoke rather highly of all five of her roommates, so I figured Katy would be all right. Plus, rumor had it that Katy had scored the highest Astronomy exam grade in all of the second year two years before.

So I was her partner. I could live with that.

As soon as it was time for class to start- I mean the very _second_ it was time for class to start- the blonde woman snapped to. She turned quickly and rapped on the desk. "Quiet down now, quiet down!"

Immediately, we did as she'd asked, shutting our mouths and facing her silently. She nodded strictly. "Good to know this is a good class. Those second-years are absolutely rowdy. Do be a better lot than they were. For I am warning you-" her icy eyes roved over us, meeting my green gaze for a fraction of an instant- "I am not a soft-willed teacher."

I caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. It was Brooklyn, raising her hand- _figures._ "Excuse me, ma'am, but aren't you going to tell us your name?"

The woman pursed her lips. "I am Professor Kristie Turner, Professor Turner to you, Miss-"

"Brooklyn Vawdrey," Brooklyn said.

Professor Turner nodded shortly. "Miss Vawdrey. Now-"

"Why do we have Astronomy here?" piped up a voice. This time, it was Helen, her hand having shot up into the air. "Instead of tonight in the tower, like it is usually?"

Professor Turner just pressed her lips into an even tighter, thinner line. "What is your name?"

"Helen MacDougal," Helen answered.

"Miss MacDougal," Professor Turner said, "if our new and g-good-" (she stumbled over the word _good_ , making me believe that there was some hope in her after all)- "Headmaster decides to not let his students out in the dead of night when they might catch cold, it is not my place to question it. _Now_ , if there are no more questions, we shall proceed to the lesson."

"A lesson?" whispered a boy's voice behind me. I recognized it as Eli Lupin's voice. Chancing a quick glance behind me, I was surprised to see that his hair was back to its normal brilliant white. "It's only the first day!"

Professor Turner appeared to have heard, but she ignored the voice and rapped again on her desk. "If everyone will promptly take out their copies of _Astronomy in the Wizarding World_ by Linwood B. Leventhorpe and turn to page one. Who can read the introduction for me? How about you in the front row with the blond hair, what's your name?"

"Katy Beaurepaire," Katy said with just the right amount of meekness and sarcasm.

If Professor Turner had caught on to Katy's rather rude tone, she didn't let it show. "Miss Beaurepaire, go ahead and read the introduction."

Katy sighed but dutifully began to read, "Astronomy is a complex thing that is not to be classified as a _subject_ , as it is much more than can be simply taught…"

By what was nearly the end of the lesson, I felt like I did at the end of a double History of Magic period. Astronomy had always been kind of fun- pointing out the stars, looking up the old Greek wizards' tales behind the names of the constellations, and filling in charts with Ella- but this year was already proving to be _very_ boring. And only one class had passed!

I heard a strangled noise from behind me, and then Eli's voice. "Ma'am- Professor Turner? I'm feeling ill." And he did look rather green. I squinted at his floppy white hair. Was it my imagination, or was it turning just the slightest tinge of orange?

Professor Turner frowned strictly at him- something that was beginning to become a habit with her- but waved her hand dismissively. "You may go to the hospital wing, Mr. Lupin." Her face softened just a bit. "Feel better."

He nodded, looking like he was about to throw up, and scurried for the door. I'm pretty sure I was the only one watching when, the instant before he disappeared behind the doorframe, his hair turned bright orange.

I blinked hard. What was up with Eli? His hair spontaneously changing colors? Now I knew it wasn't dye. Something was wrong-

"Miss Salinger!" snapped Professor Turner. "Do stop staring after Mr. Lupin and read the next paragraph!"

My next class was Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself paired up with Kayla Strait. She'd been the Hufflepuff Keeper the year before, and she was a sturdy girl who wasn't afraid of much. I had a distinct feeling she'd be useful during class.

Just like in Herbology, I found that the curriculum for the coming year held more than was typically used in fourth-year lessons. Hippogriffs? Shrakes? Both were normally used in sixth- to seventh-year classes. But I sighed and put up with it. If people only two years older than me could cope with them, so could I.

Our last class of the day was Study of Ancient Runes. Well, I say _our_ , but only three fourth-year Ravenclaws took the class- me, Eric Montgomery- a shy and monotonous boy who'd dated Brooklyn the previous year- and Will Greene, my rival. Everyone else took Divination (which I always considered frivolous and unnecessary) except for Lanie, who was in Arithmancy. I walked into the classroom, followed by the two boys, and spotted Brooklyn from across the classroom. At least _that_ hadn't changed. Brooklyn and I would always be Ancient Runes partners.

As usual, Professor Ross-Campbell was strict and sharp. However, after putting up with Professor Turner for a class, I began to appreciate Professor Ross-Campbell. She was very set in her ways, yes, but kindly so.

Eli Lupin was normally in our class as well, but the lesson started and he was not there. I murmured the story of his orange hair to Brooklyn, who had been in the classroom but had not seen it, and she looked concerned. "I wonder what's wrong with him."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I might go visit him after class."

"I'll come with you," I offered.

But there was no need. Eli, his hair the normal white, slipped into class with fifteen minutes left. He didn't look sick anymore, as Brooklyn pointed out. In fact, he threw himself into Ancient Egyptian runes with a vigor. We tried to approach him after class, but he hurried away with his friends.

Dinner was just as awkward and silent as breakfast, but the Ravenclaw commons were alive as ever afterwards. Someone put on music by an oldies band called The Weird Sisters, and as Myron Wagtail crooned the refrain of "Magic Works" everyone caught up or danced a little. I talked with the Chaser trio for a little while, then moved to sit alone by the dying fire in the fire pit as the final words of the song echoed through the room.

 _And don't believe that magic can die_

 _No, no, no, this magic can't die_

 _So dance your final dance_

 _Cause this is your final chance_

The song finished and the famous beginning bars to "Do The Hippogriff" played in quick succession. Half of the Ravenclaw population- mainly the first- and second-years- swarmed the cleared-off space that had been transformed into a mini dance floor. Among the dancers I spotted Annie Henson and Nellie Fleetwood- Zach's little sister and one of her best friends. A seventh-year near them walked away to greet a friend, revealing Raj Knivetton, the third in their little group and the only boy. Raj was ever-cheerful and always wore a brilliant smile. He, Annie and Nellie belted out what was probably their favorite line in "Do The Hippogriff": _Put your hands up in the air / like an ogre, who just don't care._ They collapsed laughing into one another, and I smiled. The last in their little group- Sunny Liripine, also a second-year- was probably sitting lonely in the Hufflepuff common room. Last year you'd often been able to find her in the Ravenclaw commons, but it was a different Hogwarts then.

The common room door opened and everyone froze. The only sound was the music, which suddenly seemed to play louder:

 _Oh! Can you dance like a hippogriff?_

 _Na na na ma ma ny na na ny na_

 _Flyin' off from a cliff_

 _Na na na ma ma ny na na ny na_

Professor Fourier strode to the desk that held the ancient magical record player and switched it off, removing the record. He held it up. "Whose is this?"

Sophie Jordan, a meek and artistic third-year girl who was a direct descendant of Harry Potter's friend Lee Jordan, raised her hand and claimed the record, sliding it into her oversized bag that was stained with paint.

Professor Fourier sighed and looked at all of us with sad eyes. "I know you all have to catch up on one another's summers, but it isn't wise to have a party tonight." Then, so as not to scare anyone too much, he added, "It's late and you should all be in bed."

Then he turned and stepped out, his cloak swirling behind him.

We all trickled towards the doors that led to our dorms- boys to the left, girls to the right. A prefect herded a group of first-year boys who'd tried to stay behind- I recognized a few from the Sorting- towards their door. Zach and Reuben formed a wall behind them, finishing the female Prefect's job. She followed me in, talking animatedly to one of her friends about how fun yet tiring being Prefect was.

Everyone but Millie and Helen were in the dorm already, but they entered soon after me. Their twin cats, Mary (Millie's) and Carrie (Helen's) raced to greet them like they'd been gone for years. Peltie was obviously in the Owlery, but I contented myself with petting Mary, who was the bigger of the two tabbies. Finally we were all ready for bed, but everyone but Polly and Helen stayed up reading books. I was on Chapter Six of my old copy of Numerology and Grammatica, the old Arithmancy textbook from the previous year (I'd taken Arithmancy for three months last year), when I fell asleep.

 **Happy Fourth of July, to my fellow Americans, and I'm sorry I took so long in posting! I'm on vacation so you won't hear from me for a few days, though.**


	4. Chapter 4: Relics and Revelations

**First, I'd like to wish the happiest of Hogwarts birthdays to the girl who inspired Lanie! *gives you all birthday cake in celebration***

 **Second, this chapter might incite some flames. Just warning you and asking you to keep them to a minimum. Sound good? Thanks.**

 **All right, on to the chapter!**

"Aly!" someone hissed, shaking my shoulders. "Aly, Aly, _wake up!_ "

I moaned and tried to bat them away, still half-asleep, and slurred, "Whozzit?"

"It's Lanie," the voice replied. " _Wake up!_ You _have_ to see this! It's an injustice!"

"What's an injustice?" I mumbled, opening my eyes and waving Lanie away.

"Quidditch has been canceled for the year!"

" _What?!"_ Immediately I was awake, leaping from my bed. A stray matted curl fell into my eyes and I brushed it away hurriedly. "You have to be kidding!"

"Not kidding!" Lanie shrilled. "I woke up early this morning to start on that Transfiguration essay-"

"It's _just_ like Descoteaux to assign us a foot-long essay the Friday after school starts," groaned Millie from across the room, throwing the curtains open and letting natural light in. Judging by the sun, it was really early- and of course homework was the only reason Lanie would be up this early on a Saturday. "He gets made Head of Slytherin House and he thinks he rules the world, that one-"

"-and I saw it on the common room notice board," Lanie continued as if Millie hadn't interrupted her. "It took up half of the space! Poor Kitty- she won't get to be captain her last year!"

I dressed hurriedly as Lanie carped about Quidditch. I didn't even have time to brush my hair or anything else before Lanie grabbed my wrist and Shawnee's wrist- apparently she'd woken Shawnee in the exact same way- and dragged us out into the hallway, down the stairs and out into the completely deserted common room.

The notice board was right beside the door to the commons, and sure enough a huge black-and-white flyer with orange lettering was plastered across most of it. Lanie pulled us over to it and let us read.

 _Students, I have canceled Quidditch for this year. It's going to be a cold winter and I won't have students catching their death of cold or getting hit in the face by Bludgers. I'm sure it won't affect you all that much; there are other pastimes here at Hogwarts. The Gobstones Club is open, I hear. –Headmaster Damien_

"Almost no one gets hit in the face by Bludgers, and Madam Pomfrey is able to heal any injury that's out there!" I fumed, growing angrier by the second.

"I _know!_ " Lanie grumbled. "It's the same reason we don't have Astronomy outside anymore. He just wants to keep everyone inside where he can watch us."

"At least we have Herbology outside," I pacified her, "and Care of Magical Creatures."

"For _now_ ," muttered my brown-haired friend.

We turned to Shawnee, who hadn't said a word. She was glowering at the poster. "He can't do this," she said darkly. "It's not fair. I'll _make_ him let us."

"Shawnee!" gasped Lanie, horrified.

"If I go a full year- or _more_ \- without getting on my broom or playing as Keeper," Shawnee continued with a dangerous lilt in her voice, "I'll go barking mad. Don't tell me you don't feel the same."

I did feel the same way, but I wasn't going to go about 'making' people do things. "I love being a Beater, yes, but-"

"Lanie?" Shawnee interrupted.

Lanie shrugged. "He's Headmaster. And he's dangerous. You saw how scared Professor Fourier was Wednesday night. If _Professor Fourier_ is frightened of him…"

We fell silent, nodding. _That_ is _true._

Just then, Kitty burst out of the door leading to the dormitories, leading Reuben and Zach in a very similar way to how Lanie had gotten me and Shawnee down into the commons. She stopped short when she saw the three of us clustered around the notice board. "You three heard, too?"

"Lanie saw it first," I said, moving out of the way so Reuben and Zach could see it.

"No!" Reuben breathed when he saw the big orange letters. _I have canceled Quidditch for this year…_

Zach pursed his lips. "He can't possibly do this."

"That's what _I_ said!" Shawnee nearly shouted.

"But he's Headmaster," Kitty argued.

"And that's what _I_ said!" Lanie replied.

I collapsed into the nearest armchair, sinking into the fluffy cushions. "What are we going to do without Quidditch?"

Kitty followed my example, sitting next to me. "Yeah… it's good that Isaiah isn't here to see this. He'd probably die."

I laughed a little. Isaiah Bramson had been my fellow Beater, one year older than the Chaser trio, and about the toughest guy to ever live. If this had happened last year, he'd probably have fought Headmaster Damien for Quidditch. (It was a great quality in a Beater.) "Maybe."

The people from the old Quidditch teams weren't the only ones who were horror-struck at the news. Sure, they were dismayed- I saw Nick in the Great Hall sadly brushing his fingers over the shiny surface of the Snitch that he'd probably nicked from the school last year- but anyone and everyone who was a Quidditch fan of any kind was shocked. The whole Great Hall was in an uproar during breakfast, everyone chattering to each other, people shouting across the Hall to their friends at other tables, and even more people comforting the ex-players. At least three people from each year (besides my own) came up to reassure me that Headmaster Damien would obviously reinstate the sport. One particularly friendly sixth-year gave me a big hug that squeezed all the breath out of me.

Brooklyn came back to Ravenclaw Tower with me after breakfast- Headmaster Damien, not surprisingly, hadn't made an appearance at the meal- to work on our essays with Lanie and Shawnee. She too was furious, her face scrunched up into a seemingly permanent scowl. We were sitting on the biggest couch, the four of us, working on our essays with the parchments spread out across the biggest crystal table when the second-year quartet came up to us. Raj was front and center, flanked by Annie and Nellie- and Sunny was there too, next to Nellie, her ever-present smile a slightly sad one.

"Don't worry, Aly," Raj said with a big grin. "Professor- oops, Headmaster- Damien will definitely bring back Quidditch." As he was talking to me, Annie and Nellie scurried forward to chat with Lanie and Shawnee (respectively), and Sunny smiled at Brooklyn. "Just try not to hit any more Bludgers toward the stands, 'kay?"

I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. "Gee, Raj, I'd nearly forgotten about that. Did you _have_ to bring it up?" I'd apologized over and over to the quartet for my Bludger blunder the previous year, and although the girls seemed to have forgiven and forgotten, Raj never bypassed an opportunity to mention it.

"Of course I did," he laughed, and then he was gone along with Sunny, Nellie and Annie.

"Did you know they were Quidditch fans?" Lanie said to me out of the side of her mouth as we drew our parchments toward us once again.

"Yep," I muttered. Then I raised my voice and posed the question "Do you think magical objects that have been Transfigured into animals still retain qualities of that magical object?"

"So, like if a wand was transfigured into a tortoise?" Shawnee asked.

It took us a while to complete the essay, especially since Brooklyn was more cynical than usual and shot down a lot of our ideas. I didn't blame her for being bad-tempered; if I'd had Professor Descoteaux as a new Head of my House, I'd have been cross, too. But we did finish, just after lunch (which Headmaster Damien didn't attend, either), and after Brooklyn took off to hang out with her Slytherin friends Lanie suggested we take a walk.

The doors to the grounds were only one corridor away when the five of us (Millie and Helen had tagged along) bumped into a trio of third-year Hufflepuff girls. I recognized them all- Lindsey Frowseloure, Jessie Emerson and Kira Redman. Out of the three of them, I knew Jessie the best, only because people who knew both of us joked that we were twins. It could've been true- Jessie and I both had short light brown hair, but mine was curly and hers was straight. We both had green eyes and were tall (she was nearly as tall as me, and I was a year older!) and Jessie was super-smart. Anyone who ever met her always asked why she wasn't in Ravenclaw, but that was because she was the kindest and most cheerful girl you'd ever meet.

She also had a penchant for hugs, which was why I found myself being squeezed in her skinny arms. "Aly! I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been? Oh, I heard about Quidditch- I'm _so_ sorry, he _has_ to reestablish it- so how have you been?"

"Hi, Jessie," I replied, laughing a little. "I've been pretty good! Had a nice, relaxing summer. What about you?"

"Absolutely A-OK, as usual!" she replied cheerily. We watched Lanie and Kira- a short Indian girl with the longest hair of anyone at the school and a bit of a high-pitched voice- reunite, and Lindsey (who was a close second to Jessie in vivaciousness) struck up a conversation with Millie, Shawnee and Helen. "Were you trying to get outdoors?"

"Yes," I replied. "Are you guys going in the same direction?"

"No, we're heading back to the common room," Jessie said, sighing a bit dramatically. "The doors are locked, and we tried magically unlocking them but no luck. Must be our gracious Headmaster's way of saying _you're not allowed outside._ "

"Shhh!" Kira reminded her almost instantly, waving her hands around. "Are you nuts? Remember what Professor Gedding told us Wednesday night during the party!"

"Let me guess- he told you it wasn't wise to have a party?" Millie predicted, smirking a little.

"Exactly," Lindsey exhaled. "How did you know?"

Lanie chuckled. "Let's just say that Professor Fourier and Professor Gedding might share a brain."

The Hufflepuff girls chortled and started to head back to their common room. We walked with them in the direction that we would have to go to get back to our commons, too, but just as we were about to say good-bye and head our separate ways, everyone heard a sob.

We froze. It was coming from the hallway that us Ravenclaws would take to return to the dormitories. Slowly, the eight of us tiptoed down the corridor. The sound of sobs grew louder and louder, and then started to fade away as we made our way toward the door at the end of the hall. So we crept back toward the middle of the passageway.

"Look!" whispered Kira, pointing gently at a dark grey statue of a wizard carrying a staff. Topping the staff was a real jewel, glittering blue in the lowlight. But Kira hadn't just noticed the statue; she'd noticed the boot-clad foot and patch of dark cloak peeking out from an alcove behind the stone wizard.

"Hello?" Millie voiced, poking her head behind the statue. "Oh… Lisa! Here, come on up. What happened to you?"

She pulled out from behind the statue a strawberry blonde Gryffindor who looked vaguely familiar. I squinted at her, knowing that I knew the girl's long nose and reddish-yellow waves from somewhere, but unwilling to ask because of her puffy blue eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," she managed between sniffles. "I- I just-" Then she caught sight of the blue jewel atop the statue's staff and dissolved back into sobs.

Millie and the Hufflepuffs surrounded the girl- Lisa- and started comforting her. Shawnee and Lanie scouted around and found an empty classroom, and Helen and I ushered Lisa and her consolers into it. After sitting the Gryffindor girl down, I managed to pause her tears and then asked her why she was crying in an empty hallway near Ravenclaw Tower.

"H-Headmaster D-D-Damien," she stammered, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief embroidered with the letters _LF._ Either her last name started with F or it was Lindsey's. "H-he took-" A sob that sounded more like a hiccup racked her body, and she stopped talking.

"What did he take?" Lanie asked patiently. "A pet? Something from home?"

Lisa nodded at that last part. "Yeah. A f-family heirloom."

"Why would he take a family heirloom?" Helen said to Millie, a bit louder than she should've.

Lisa glanced at her. "I-I don't k-know!"

"What was the heirloom?" Jessie queried good-naturedly.

Lisa swallowed hard. "A j-jeweled vial. It's b-been in my family for- for generations. My great-great-grandmother once b-brewed a love potion to give my great-great-grandfather, b-but he fell in l-love with her anyway. Then she started up her v-very own line of love p-potions, and that's what m-made the Ryall f-family famous."

"Ryall?" I said quickly, popping up from where I'd taken a seat on the edge of a chair. "You're Carter Ryall's sister?" Carter Ryall was a Ravenclaw boy one year older than myself, with hair that was just a shade redder than Lisa's. As soon as I realized that he was Lisa's brother, I started recognizing little pieces of her face- her eyes were the exact same shade of blue as Carter's, they had nearly identical noses, and each had only a couple freckles.

Lisa nodded. "An-anyway, the oldest R-Ryall girl of the youngest g-generation always keeps the v-vial. It's antique. B-but Headmaster Damien- he t-took it. What will- what will Gran say?" Tears welled up in her eyes.

Millie patted her back, glancing at me with confusion on her face. _Why would e through that?_ she mouthed.

I looked back at her, just as baffled. _What?_ I mouthed back.

She rolled her eyes and mouthed each word separately. _Why. Would. He. Do. That?_

Understanding, I nodded. Grabbing Lanie's and Shawnee's elbows, I pulled them out of the classroom. Helen tagged along- Helen wasn't particularly suited to matters that required much sympathy. As soon as I was positive Lisa wouldn't hear us, I turned to them. "Why would Headmaster Damien take students' things? It's almost like he _wants_ us to hate him."

"Shhhh!" Lanie hissed, reminding me rather of Kira.

"Yeah- and why let Lisa know he took it?" Helen whispered.

"Maybe he didn't," Shawnee said bluntly. "Remember, we don't know what happened. For all we know, someone else took it and she's assuming it was him- or maybe he took it while she was watching. Who knows?"

"Alyssa," a voice drawled from behind us.

We froze.

"Oh, _don't_ be so startled," the man said, almost lazily. "You knew I would catch up with you eventually." It was creepy, the way he pretended that only I was there. "You are, after all, one of my favorite students."

Slowly, I turned around. So did my friends. Headmaster Damien was leaning against the wall, apparently just having come out of a shadowy alcove we'd passed. His hair looked like shadows, his eyes like chips of ice that glittered at me. I forced a smile. "Um, hello, Headmaster."

He extended a hand and curled one finger towards himself. It was a clear call. _Come here. Now._

I gulped and took a step forward- and so did my friends. I felt a rush of gratitude. He was headmaster, but he was still Professor Damien, and he'd always been so nice… but he was acting pretty strange. _And my friends aren't scared to face him with me._

He waved his hands. "Alyssa," he said curtly, "you come with me. The rest of you are dismissed."

Lanie squeezed my arm as she turned to do her Headmaster's bidding; Helen sent me a frightened wince; and I caught a glimpse of Shawnee's equally worried face as I followed Headmaster Damien away from my fellow Ravenclaw girls.

He led me through the twisting school corridors before stopping in front of a stairway I recognized. It was the staircase that led to the Headmaster's office, only the stone gargoyle that normally guarded the stairs wasn't there. In its place stood two suits of armor who stood still, their lances crossed over the entrance to the stairwell.

"It's me," Headmaster Damien said in a low voice. The suits of armor uncrossed their spears and stood at attention as he shepherded me through the doorway that the lances created. Up and up we climbed, until he opened a doorway and we walked into a room with a desk and chairs. One of the two seats in front of the desk was empty, and the other was occupied by a boy with brilliant purple hair.

 _Purple?_

And then he turned around.

"Eli?" I said, shocked. "Is that you?"

He cleared his throat, casting his eyes down. "Aly."

"Sit down, Alyssa," Headmaster Damien ordered, pointing to the empty chair. He then beckoned Eli to his side. "Come with me, Eli."

The Slytherin boy with the brilliant violet hair stood wordlessly and followed the headmaster out of the room. I was alone in Headmaster Damien's office.

So I stood up. It looked completely different from the years before, when Minerva McGonagall had been headmistress. The portraits that normally covered the wall behind the headmaster's desk were gone; instead, small tables stood all over the roomy office. About half of them were empty; the other half were cluttered with small antiques. I moved over to the nearest table and peered at the cluttered antiquities. Just on that table, there was something that looked like a cross between a teapot and a lamp; a small golden clock with the gilded edges carved in intricate, swirling patterns; a necklace made of hypnotic, color-changing pearls in a small, clear box; a pink plate patterned with paintings of lace and a moving kitten with a bow tied around its neck; a heart-shaped vial that shined and shimmered due to the blue-and-purple gems set in its glass; and a stack of embossed books that looked quite old. The jeweled vial caught my eye, and I peered at it more closely. _Could that be Lisa's?_

Looking around, I could see no other object that could be classified as a 'jeweled vial', so I picked the vial up off of the table and turned it around in my hands, then slipped it into the pocket of my robes. Glancing back at the table I had taken it from, I winced. If Headmaster Damien spied the empty spot on the table, he would know immediately that I had taken something. My eyes darted around the room, looking for something- _anything-_ that could take the place of what was obviously Lisa's family heirloom.

Finally, my eyes landed on a pair of moon-shaped rings set with diamonds on a nearby table. They were small enough to not be missed from their table, but they were large enough to take up the space left by Lisa's vial if I rearranged the other antiques. I moved the rings and shifted the books and plate and necklace until the table seemed like it looked normal. I breathed a sigh.

Too soon, I heard footsteps. _He's back!_ I nearly catapulted across the room and sat in my chair, hoping he wouldn't notice what I'd done. My heart was fluttering fast and my hair was drooping over my face in messy curls. I gulped, trying to pat it down-

Just as he opened the door.

I turned. "Headmaster?"

"Yes, Alyssa."

"W-why am I here?"

He crossed to his chair and sat, his torso, arms and head the only things visible behind the thick wooden desk. "I said it earlier, Alyssa. You are one of my favorite students. And by that, I mean that you are smart. Probably the smartest of the school."

My smile grew tight. _That doesn't answer the question! Why has he called me here?_

"You see," he continued, "if I am to rule this school as Headmaster, I need a group of students who are utterly loyal to me. When this generation of teachers dies- as we will, eventually- I need for those students to replace us." He leaned forward, his eyes burning and intense. "And I will need the leader of that group to replace _me_."

"Is that why you called Eli up here?" I asked, confused. _Why's he telling me this?_

"No, no, no, Alyssa," he said, laughing a little. (It wasn't a nice laugh.) "For such a clever girl, I am surprised you haven't figured it out yet. I am selecting you as my protégé, the leader of that group. You shall replace me when I die. Eli… he was only up here because of a small misconduct." But his eye twitched like he was lying.

"M-me?" I stuttered. "Um…"

"It is a great honor. I have already assembled the students whom you will lead. There are quite a lot of them," he informed me coolly. "You shall give your orders to five captains, who will then distribute those orders to five people underneath their command."

"So… I would be leading thirty people?" I asked, my mind racing. _He must know I'm not going to do this! I wonder who the others are. Are they truly loyal to him? If so, how?_

He leaned in. Our faces were inches apart and his eyes were burning into mine. "There is no 'would be', Alyssa Salinger. You heard what I said at the Sorting Ceremony." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It wasn't a joke."

"I'm loyal to you, sir," I said in the most convincing tone I could muster. _Oh, no. How am I going to survive this year while pretending to fool everyone that I'm completely loyal to him._

He leaned back and smiled. "Good. In fact, why don't you meet your captains now? It's half past two; meet them in Classroom 4A- it should be abandoned- at three. Sound good, Alyssa?"

"Can't wait," I replied.

"Excellent. Now out."

I scurried from the room and down the stairs. Once I was sure I was alone, I felt in my pocket for the vial. It was still there. At least I'd done _something_ right.

 _Well, now I'll be able to tell my friends what's going on in Headmaster Damien's world on a regular basis._

It wasn't much of a bright side, but I hurried towards the seventh floor. Before meeting Headmaster Damien's captains- whom I would probably have to fool too, since they were almost definitely loyal to him- I had to drop something off there.

 **So... happy birthday to the girl who inspired Lanie, and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5: It's Settled

**I'm sure that some of you have noticed the new poll on my profile. If you haven't voted, could you please do it after you read? Thank you!**

After dropping Lisa's vial off in the Room of Requirement- an old frenemy- I took the stairs down to the fourth floor. On the last staircase, I tripped and my leg sunk up to the ankle into the trick step, but luckily I was able to grab the banister and pull myself up. I arrived at Classroom 4A with minutes to spare, hoping that I knew none of the people who had decided that they were loyal to a tyrant.

All five captains were already there, but they were facing away from me. From what I could tell, three were girls and the other two were boys. One girl was blonde, another redheaded and a third had dark skin and poofy dark hair. As for the boys, one shared the dark skin and dark hair, but the other had cleanly cut light brown hair and tanned skin.

I cleared my throat and all five whirled around at once. To my shock, I knew three of them. The boy with dark skin and hair was Ivan Liripine, the older, Slytherin brother of Sunny Liripine of the second-year quartet. (He was in my year.) The girl with the same skin and hair was named Peggy Dalingridge, and she was a sixth-year Ravenclaw. Finally, the blonde girl was _Katy Beaurepaire._

I gaped.

"Aly!" Katy said brightly, crossing the room and hugging me tightly. " _You're_ the protégé that Commander Damien was talking about?"

"Um… y-yeah," I stammered, hugging her back. "Yeah, I- hi."

"I can't wait to tell Maile and Sami! They're both in my unit, you know."

"Both in your-" I realized that Maile was Maile Quentin, her best friend, and Sami was Sami Wright. _Them, too?_ This job was already going to be hard enough without worrying about people who knew me better than others! "That's… cool!"

"I _know_." Katy grinned. "Oh, you do know Ivan, Peggy, Finley, and Eve-Charlotte, right?"

And that's how I came to know the brown-haired boy as Finley Denton, Slytherin seventh-year, and the redheaded girl as Eve-Charlotte Carew, Slytherin fifth-year. Everyone there was a red-blooded pureblood. I did my best to smile at them. "I'm Aly Salinger. It's nice to meet you."

"We've been placing dibs on what we want to teach when it's our turn to take over with ruling the school," Katy chattered excitedly. "Obviously you'll be Headmistress, and Finley wants Potions."

"Do you think I would be better as Charms teacher or Transfiguration professor?" Peggy chimed in.

"Hey, I wanted Transfiguration," Eve-Charlotte interrupted.

"I'm older," Peggy informed her. "I get the privileges."

"Well, you could go for Charms," Eve-Charlotte suggested, "and then I'd have Transfiguration. We'd be all set."

I couldn't believe my eyes and ears, couldn't look at any of the people I'd known before the same way again. A dictatorial man had taken over the school and was ruling it like his own little kingdom, never planning to let any of us leave, and these people had sworn loyalty to him and were _fighting_ like little _kids_ over what _subject_ they'd get to teach? I shuddered and then shouted, "Guys!"

Immediately everyone stopped arguing and turned to look at me. I shivered again. It was creepy, how willing they were to follow Headmaster Damien- and, in turn, me. I struggled to think of something to say that would sound normal to them. "Er, we've still got a long way to go! Why don't we… focus on… um… keeping troublemakers out of trouble? And we can… er… finish our education while we're at it! _Then_ you can decide what you want to- teach." My voice trailed off as they stared.

"That's a wonderful idea!" Katy chirped, turning to Finley. "See, Fin, this is why a fourth-year was chosen to be Commander Damien's protégé and you weren't."

They were calling him _Commander_ now? And on top of it all, they were being _cheerful_ about it. The whole idea made me sick.

"Er, I'm going back to the common room," I said slowly, turning to leave. "It… it was nice meeting you."

"Oh, I'll come with you," Peggy offered, looping her arm through mine. "Hey, did you know that we can also give House points and take them away now? Isn't it great?"

"Fabulous," I murmured, turning left. "So we're essentially Dolores Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad from Harry Potter's time?"

Peggy made a face. "Well, I wouldn't say _that._ We're _so_ much more sophisticated. Dolores Umbridge had the right idea- you know, taking over the school to get rid of all the _corruption_ in it-"

 _Corruption?_ I wanted to blurt out. _That's what you think you're getting rid of? Here's a secret: you're aiding and abetting the corruption, and his name is Headmaster Damien Kayash!_

"-but she went about it in _totally_ the wrong way," Peggy finished with a laugh. "You isolate the school and strengthen the borders and _then_ you take it over! Absolutely _ridiculous_ , the way she bided her time for almost half a year. Commander Damien didn't even wait a whole _day!_ He's so smart, isn't he?"

"Er, yeah, sure," I replied, taking a hard right. A new idea occurred to me. "Hey, Peggy? Who's on your squad of five people?"

"Sara Tabard," she remembered. "And… curses, I forget the other four's names."

 _Sara Tabard._ I added her to my mental list of hardcore Damien followers. "Thanks. And what House is she in?"

"Second-year Slytherin, I think. Why?"

I stopped short. _They're corrupting as low as second-years? By the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, this has to be fixed. And soon._

When I got back to the Ravenclaw common room, Peggy walked over to a window seat and left me to talk to my friends, who of course rushed me. Lanie, Shawnee, Millie and Helen had apparently filled Lynne in on the events of the afternoon, and the five of them rushed up to me and ushered me up into our dormitory so we could speak in private. Polly wasn't there- she was probably in the library.

I whispered everything that had happened to my schoolmates. When my tale was over, Helen looked at me for a second like she'd never seen me and then asked, "And you're really _not_ loyal to him… right?"

"Are you kidding?" I whispered back. "Of course I'm not! He's a _tyrant._ He just took over Hogwarts. Look, Peggy said that he strengthened the borders of the school- probably so no one can get in _or_ out. I think we should test that theory and then if it turns out to be true, we should try to break the spell. Then he won't be keeping us in here and we can make a break for it. If someone can get word to the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, they can put Headmaster Damien in Azkaban."

"Well," Lanie said thoughtfully, "has he really hurt anyone yet? Maybe we should wait until we're positive he has bad intentions."

"Lanie…" Shawnee said in a low and dangerous voice.

"I'm just saying," she persisted. "M-maybe this doesn't have to be solved with breaking through a spell and calling in law enforcement. Maybe we can convince him peacefully."

I thought about it for a moment. "All right. I just don't think it will work."

"Aly," Lynne said softly, speaking up for the first time, "I think you should stay with the Damien kids."

The very same idea had been running through my own head, and as I opened my mouth to agree, Millie whispered, "Why?"

"If we fail to convince Headmaster Damien out of his crazy tyrant plan," Lynne explained, "we should have someone on the inside. And based on what Aly's told us… if she made her true allegiances known and we failed, what do you think he'd do to her?"

We all collectively gulped.

"Then it's settled," Millie said in a small voice.

That night at dinner was the first time that Headmaster Damien had shown his face at a meal all day. It was relatively quiet, until three-quarters of the way through, when Headmaster Damien started to talk about the day's events.

He had only just started, saying he hoped we'd enjoyed our day, when someone from the Gryffindor table yelled, "You can't cancel Quidditch!"

I looked over, and judging by the frightened looks on the faces around Tommy Wood, I knew it was him who had shouted it. But before Headmaster Damien could react, other people from around the room started to yell too.

"It's not fair!"

"It's all we have sometimes!"

"You can't stop us!"

That last one made the entire Hall fall silent. It too had come from the Gryffindor table, but everyone looked scared now, so I couldn't figure out who had shouted it. Headmaster Damien couldn't either, judging by the look on his face, but he just smiled a wide and freakily amused smile.

"No," he said simply. "I alone could not stop you. But I have teachers to help, and also today I have formed a group of students to help me control the rabble-rousers in this school." He pulled a scroll from an inside pocket of his robes. "When I call your name, please come up to the front."

All my friends shot me wide-eyed glances. _No no no no no, he can't tell the whole school! I don't want to have to fool the whole school!_ Something else was nagging at me too, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

"We'll start with the youngest, shall we?" Headmaster Damien announced cheerfully, unrolling the scroll. "Sara Tabard, Slytherin."

A petite girl with eerily pale skin and hair as black as night stood from the green table and walked forward proudly, her shoulders thrown back and her chin held high.

"Lachlan Hargreve, Hufflepuff."

A boy just a tad taller than Sara stood from the Hufflepuff table, ran his fingers through his short and curly blond hair, and stepped up to stand by Sara.

The list grew on and on until twenty-five kids had assembled up in the space between the dais and the House tables.

"And now for our captains!" Headmaster Damien declared, beaming proudly, like a new father. "Katy Beaurepaire, Slytherin!"

Katy stood among quiet gasps and strode to the front.

"Ivan Liripine, Slytherin."

I caught a glimpse of Sunny Liripine's deathly pale face between two Hufflepuff boys. She looked like she was about to cry. Beside her, I saw Jessie pat her on the back sympathetically.

"Eve-Charlotte Carew, Slytherin. Peggy Dalingridge, Ravenclaw."

Eve-Charlotte, her brilliant orange hair styled back into an intricate French braid, stood and followed Peggy up the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables.

"And finally, Finley Denton, Slytherin."

Finley stood and traced the same path that Eve-Charlotte and Peggy had, flashing grins at people as he went. I breathed a sigh of relief. _He said 'finally'. That means he won't announce me as his protégé. Good._

"But there's one more," Headmaster Damien stated. "A girl whom I have taken on as a sort of… apprentice. Alyssa Salinger."

Lanie gulped audibly as I slowly stood and treaded down the aisle, heading for Headmaster Damien and the people under my command. Other people who Headmaster Damien had called up made way as I walked through them, feeling all eyes on me.

"She will lead my students," Headmaster Damien announced. "Think of her as a sort of… class president."

 _Class tyrant, more like._ I felt terrible.

Headmaster Damien descended from the dais and withdrew a small bag with a drawstring from the same inside pocket of his robes he'd pulled the scroll from, placing the scroll back where it had come from. "Now, children, I know that it may be difficult to remember thirty-one people to take orders from, so I have here badges for each of them." He pulled out a big orange jewel, sparkling in the candlelight, and handed it to me. "Affix them to your cloak, right where it joins together- yes, that's it," he added as I reluctantly clipped the jewel to my cloak knot.

He handed out the rest of the jewels and soon each of us had a sparkling orange gem on our cloaks. "You may sit back down."

I led the students back to their seats, feeling the pressure of everyone's eyes on my new pin. I wanted to rip it off, but that would have been stupid and possibly life-ending, so I kept it on and kept my eyes on the floor as I slid into my seat beside Polly and Shawnee.

 _Oh, what am I going to do?_

 **I hoped you guys enjoyed it. I sure didn't plan for this whole spy/double agent thing to happen, but it did and I'm going to enjoy writing this. Leave me your comments and thoughts below! Thanks!**

 **~atrfla**


	6. Chapter 6: Bag Checks and Black Eyes

**Sorry I didn't post sooner- I was at a writing camp that was a ton of fun. Not to mention two new people from the camp are reading the Salinger Year series now! *throws confetti into the air* You two know who you are, and thank you, and welcome!**

 **Secondly, this chapter may get a touch bloody. If you get kind of squeamish, just message me and I'll give you a blood-free summary of the chapter.**

 **Okay, that's all I have to say. Read on!**

As it turned out, being a double agent was actually kind of easy. Not a lot of people misbehaved, and those who did were 'taken care of' by the captains. Not having to worm my way out of punishing someone who didn't need punishing left me plenty of time to gather all the names of the Damien-followers. Every night, Lanie transcribed the names I had gathered onto a spare piece of parchment. The list grew longer and longer, and with every name we added I grew more worried as to the safety of the person who carried it around (which was Lanie). When, in late September, Headmaster Damien announced that his followers would from then on perform random bag checks for anything suspicious, it took the combined powers of Lynne, Shawnee, and myself to persuade Lanie to hand off the list to a different person who was involved with her plan to peacefully take down Headmaster Damien each day. The first day, it went to Ash Fleetwood- a third-year Gryffindor who was the older brother of the second-year-quartet member Nellie Fleetwood. The next day, Ash passed it off to Art July, one of my fellow fourth-year Ravenclaws (only he was a boy). Art kept it for a day before handing it off to Jessie, Jessie gave it to Raj, and so on.

We planned the Peaceful Uprising, as Lanie had nicknamed her plan, for dinner on October 9th. It was a Friday and turned out to be as hopeful of a day as we were that the plan would work. I had Care of Magical Creatures outside, and even while we darted about trying not to get burned to crisps by fire crabs, none of us could help but notice the golden sunbeams filtering through the leaves of the Forbidden Forest just a little ways away, the flowers blooming even though it was just starting to get cold during the day, and the melodies of the songbirds as they warbled their tune. I didn't even mind the small burn I got on the side of my right index finger, even though it stung.

When I went inside on my way to History of Magic, Eve-Charlotte caught my arm. "Aly," she said, stopping me short. "You haven't helped us do bag checks at all!"

"I've been busy," I protested. "You know, student-leader stuff." In truth, the only Damien-student-leader stuff I'd done was announce to the captains that we- well, _they_ \- would be performing random bag checks back in late September.

"Well," Eve-Charlotte said slowly with a small chuckle, "you can't _possibly_ be busy now! Why don't you come and join us?" She gestured to Lachlan Hargreve, who was standing close by- waiting for her. In addition to seeing Lachlan, I also noticed that some of my classmates- namely, Kayla Strait (a girl who had been Hufflepuff Keeper the year before), her twin sister Ana Strait, and their friend Nicole Trout (who was honestly more of a Slytherin than she was a Hufflepuff)- were casting me dirty looks. "We're going to go check the Gryffindor first-years' bags."

I had no choice but to ignore Kayla, Ana, and Nicole and follow Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan through the twisting halls. "Why Gryffindor first-years? Surely it's the more experienced students who are going to be carrying something suspicious?"

"Oh, Aly," Eve-Charlotte said, laughing. "You're smart, all right, but you're not shrewd. I see why you were Sorted into Ravenclaw and not Slytherin. If someone has something suspicious that they want to hide, then of course they would give it to the people who no one would suspect and make _them_ keep it."

Of course, I'd known what they were thinking when they suggested we go check the bags of first-years, but if I was to be a double agent I had to act dumb (although not so witless that they would suspect something was up). I played along. "Oh, right. That makes a lot more sense. And most of the other first-years would be scared stiff to carry something like that, but not Gryffindor, am I right?"

"Exactly." Lachlan spoke up for the first time as we walked. "You know who the bravest Gryffindors are?"

I had no idea. "The seventh-years?"

Lachlan shook his head, following Eve-Charlotte through a door into another corridor. "No. The six who have joined Commander Damien."

"Like Sami," Eve-Charlotte told me out of the side of her mouth.

"And the smartest Ravenclaws are you and the four others who joined him, too," Lachlan went on. "In fact, everyone who did is smart enough to see ahead."

 _Or dim-witted enough to think Headmaster Damien is going to lead them to greatness!_

"So where are we going?" I asked Eve-Charlotte.

"Gryffindor first-years should be heading to Potions class right now," she replied, taking a right turn and climbing down a flight of stairs. "And there it is."

Sure enough, a large group of Gryffindor first-years mixed with Slytherin first-years was standing outside the Potions classroom. I recognized Zola Greene toward the back, her wispy blond hair styled up into a messy ponytail.

As we approached the first-years, they quieted and turned to watch us. Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan both looked to me. I cleared my throat.

"Er, bag check. All Gryffindor students line up on the wall." I tried to make my voice sound firm, like Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan would expect it to be, and it must have worked because every first-year clad in red and black robes hastened to the wall and held out their bags to be checked.

The three of us moved up and down the line, peeking into bags and shuffling things around. Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan seemed to enjoy it, so I plastered a smile on my face as I inspected inkbottles and scrutinized schoolbooks. I found nothing; even if I had found something, I would've probably let it go. And the most questionable thing that either of my supposed fellows found was a set of scales that were gold and not brass, like they should have been.

"What's going on here?" an angry voice demanded just as we finished sifting through the last few schoolbags.

We turned around and Professor Fourier froze, taking in our faces and the orange jewel badges that we wore on our cloaks. The things were nuisances- falling off too easily one day and then not coming off at all the next, shining like a beacon some days and then covering themselves in dust overnight. But I wore it, not wanting to think about what would happen if I didn't.

"Yes, Professor?" Eve-Charlotte said icily, staring him down.

"Nothing, Miss Carew," he replied. "Er, students, please go in the classroom… unless Miss Salinger, Miss Carew and Mr. Hargreve aren't done with you."

"We're done," I said quickly.

Lachlan narrowed his eyes at the first-years who were still huddled against the wall, shivering. "Just because we didn't find anything this time doesn't mean we won't next time." Then he turned and stalked away, and Eve-Charlotte and I followed.

When we were far enough away, Eve-Charlotte muttered, "I _hate_ dealing with first years. They cower like we're about to kill them, which then makes me _want_ to kill them. Ugh."

I wanted to run back to Professor Fourier and the first-years and apologize, to run away from the crazy people under my command. How had I spent years at Hogwarts with them and not seen their bloodthirstiness? But I nodded instead. "I know, right?"

"They're Gryffindors," Lachlan chimed in. "You think they'd be brave enough not to huddle against the wall."

Eve-Charlotte giggled, and I forced a chuckle. Then they split off, Eve-Charlotte to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts and Lachlan to go to the Hufflepuff common room for a free period. This left me alone with my thoughts, and I hastened to History of Magic.

That night at dinner, I sat at the Damien-follower table that had been rigged up near the front. It was in front of the professors' table on the dais and down one level, and my seat was the exact center, right in front of Headmaster Damien's. As usual, he was fashionably late, striding into the Great Hall moments before food arrived. Everyone at the Damien-follower table- including myself- rose to their feet. Normally the rest of the students stayed seated, but today they all stood with us. To Headmaster Damien and the rest of the Damien-followers, it might have seemed that the school was finally accepting the tyrant as headmaster. However, I knew better, and so I was not surprised that when Headmaster Damien and everyone at the Damien-follower table (again, including myself) sat, everyone else remained standing.

"Sit down," Headmaster Damien ordered casually, flicking his hand.

No one sat.

"What is this?" he thundered, rising back to his feet. "I said, _sit down!_ "

Lanie stepped forward- slim Lanie, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked so small from up on the dais, and I felt a wave of fear. "Headmaster Damien," she called, using an oddly formal tone. "It has come to the attention of the students that you are forbidding contact with the outside world!"

"So?" the tyrant drawled.

"So we won't stand for it!" she said bravely. "Look, we know you don't want to be a dictator-"

"That's exactly what I want to be," Headmaster Damien declared.

That's what Lanie had been afraid of. I saw indecision flicker across her face, and then someone stepped forward from the Gryffindor table. It was Vincent Winters, Lyndsay's older brother. He was a sixth-year, but he was so small that he was often teased about being a first-year. "An' we won't stand for it!" he yelled boldly.

The first domino had fallen; soon everyone was shouting.

"You're a bully!"

"You rule by fear!"

"We're going to leave!"

With that, everyone at the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables turned as one and strode toward the doors.

Eve-Charlotte and Finley started to march forward, no doubt going to stop them, but Headmaster Damien waved his hand. "No, let them go. I have defenses set up that kill anyone who touches them. Maybe after a few of them die they'll learn their lesson."

 _No!_ Lanie had been the first out! If she touched the defenses that Headmaster Damien had set up- I squeezed my eyes shut. Before I could even register what was coming out of my mouth, I was saying, "Perhaps we can go watch, Commander?"

Headmaster Damien smiled a toothy smile down at me. "Go ahead, if you so desire. Just- if you see a line scratched into the soil of the Forbidden Forest, don't cross it."

 _A line scratched into the soil of the Forbidden Forest._ Well, now I knew where I had to stop my fellows. I turned and rushed out after them, putting an expression of eagerness on my face. Some people stayed behind- the groups of Eve-Charlotte and Peggy and, of course, those girls themselves- but the rest of us ran for the Forbidden Forest.

We caught up with the group quickly, but didn't walk where they could see us ("Just in case they think we're trying to stop them," Maile giggled).

Shouts soon reached our ears. The group had stopped. They were pointing at the ground. I felt a rush of relief. _They see the line- they're probably guessing about the defenses. Thank Rowena._

"Come on," Katy said, tugging at my arm. "We're going out there."

"What?" I hissed. "Don't you think it's a better idea to watch from the trees?"

A mischievous grin spread across the blonde Slytherin's face. "Well, none of them have touched the line. We're going to try to provoke some of them into providing an example."

Hoping Lanie would be smart enough not to step forward- hoping that _all_ of them would be smart enough not to step forward- but not willing to risk my status, I followed Katy to where the other seventeen had already formed a human barricade in front of the line of soil.

Planting his hands on his hips, Finley commanded, "Go back to the castle immediately! Orders of Commander Damien! All who do not shall be punished!"

"You can't tell us what to do!" shouted a disturbingly familiar voice. It sounded like Tommy, but more high-pitched. I guessed it was his younger brother, Arthur.

"Yeah, we're going to leave!" yelled someone else.

Lisa Ryall, who was one of the closest people to the human barricade, folded her arms. "Stand aside and let us pass!" she demanded.

Shaking her head, Sami- who was standing with Maile, Katy and me- repeated Finley's orders. "Get back to the castle, or face the consequences!"

The crowd parted to reveal two Slytherins. Sure enough, third-year Arthur Wood was one of them. The other was a girl who was widely known as the prettiest girl in third year, Margaret Lacy. She was indeed good-looking, but she was also very flighty.

Arthur waved his hands, looking as if he was trying to shoo away a pesky bug. "We're going to go whether you like it or not. We don't want it to be violent, but we won't hesitate to-"

"To what? Swat me like a fly?" Maile taunted.

"I'd like to see you get past me," Katy sneered.

That was all it took. Arthur charged Katy, who pretended to try to stop him. Margaret followed right after him, and dodged around me. I truly tried to stop her- not like the other Damien-followers- but she ducked right under my outstretched arms.

Arthur's right foot and Margaret's left crossed the line at the same time-

Seeing that they had gotten past the human barricade, the crowd roared and stampeded towards us-

A bright white wall flashed up right in front of Arthur and Margaret, and the two third-year Slytherins fell to the ground, convulsing. Their skin burst in multiple places, almost like something inside them was tearing them apart. I gasped, horror-stricken, and tried to tear my eyes away from the pool of blood that was quickly forming around them and soaking into the loam- but I couldn't.

The crowd stopped, watching their schoolmates' gruesome deaths with wide eyes. A tear welled up in my right eye, and I quickly pawed it away while no one was watching. _I could have stopped them. I could have tried harder!_

A few people rushed forward, but not to charge us- to try to save their comrades. Tommy and his sixth-year brother Austin attempted in vain to heal their already-lifeless brother's lesions, while a few of Margaret's classmates wept and tried to mop the blood off of their friend's pale forehead.

Tommy looked up at me, Katy, Maile and Sami, tears streaming down his face. "You could have saved him!" he howled at us. In an instant he was up and swinging, screaming his pain and loss out at the top of his lungs. Sami and Katy deflected punches but Maile took a nasty one to the face and I to the upper arm before Finley took Tommy down, pinning him to the ground.

I swallowed quietly. "Please go back to the school," I said. It wasn't an order, but more of a plea. And people listened. Austin picked up his little brother easily, the Slytherin third-year girls hefted Margaret's body up, and everyone trudged back to the school.

When Tommy had calmed down, Finley let him up and escorted him back to the school along with three of Ivan's goons. Ivan himself, as usual, hadn't said a word during the entire fiasco. In fact, I couldn't remember a time when I'd heard him willingly talk- only when he'd been called on in class. He just headed back to Hogwarts right behind Finley and Tommy. Every Damien-follower but Sami, Katy and Maile trailed after them, chattering excitedly. Maile was clutching her eye and moaning while Katy and Sami comforted her. Tommy sure could pack a punch- I could feel my arm aching already.

"We ought to get you to the hospital wing," Sami told Maile, drawing out the word _hospital._ "If we can get you to Madam Pomfrey soon enough, she should be able to make sure you won't have a black eye."

"Don't worry," Katy consoled. "Finley will make sure Tommy's punished. Hey, Aly, did I see that prat hit you, too?"

I rubbed my arm uneasily, not wanting to get Tommy in more trouble than he was surely already going to be. "He just glanced off of me, really."

"Are you sure?" Katy pressed.

"Positive," I insisted. "You guys go to the hospital wing. I'll stay here to… clean up… the blood."

"All right," Katy said, sounding unconvinced. She and Sami guided Maile back in the direction of the castle. I stood in the Forbidden Forest alone, staring at the darkened, wet soil.

 _They were brash,_ I told myself. _They should've seen right through what Finley and Sami and Maile and Katy were saying. I would've. I_ will _survive this._

But would I have seen through my fellow Damien-followers' bluffing had I not known about it?

Shaking my head to clear it, I sighed and plodded back to Hogwarts.

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and by now you guys know the drill. I look forward to reading your reviews on this!**

 **~atrfla**


	7. Chapter 7: Books, Blaming and Bruises

**Hello, Salinger Year fans! Before we get to the story, I have an exciting piece of news for you. I recently created a Salinger Year** ** _forum_** **that we can now access. On the forum, you can ask questions, speculate, criticize or just talk about the Salinger Year series. Even better, I'm thinking about creating a Salinger Year role play forum- well, you can check out the forum for more details! As it's currently not showing up in the search whenever I search for it, here's the link (just add this on to the normal fan fiction dot net): /forum/Salinger-Year-Forum/182219/**

 **Hope you guys enjoy the forum, and this chapter, of course!**

The weekend was quiet. I spent the two days alternating between reading books, doing homework and tending to the ugly green-and-purple bruise that I'd gotten from Tommy. During meals, I scanned the Gryffindor table for him, hoping that he hadn't been punished- but the blond Wood boy was always missing.

Monday morning I woke earlier than anyone else in Ravenclaw. The sun wasn't even up yet, but I had no intention of going back to sleep. I'd been plagued by nightmares of rupturing skin, flashes of white and pools of blood soaking into the soil every time I fell asleep.

Besides some of the teachers, I was the only person in the Great Hall, too. Judging by their faces and the rings under the eyes of a few stray Hufflepuffs who slinked in five minutes after me, I wasn't the only person who was having bad dreams. And none of us had much of an appetite. I picked at a pastry for half an hour while reading _The Tales of Beetle the Bard_ \- an old family favorite- under the table. Then I gave up, accepted that I wasn't hungry, and went to class.

Because of how early it was, I expected to be the first person in the History of Magic classroom- and that included Professor Binns, who always got there right on time. But there was a boy with gold hair sitting in the last row, a boy in red-and-black robes.

"Tommy?" I said incredulously.

He turned around- and then cast his eyes to the floor once he saw me. "H-hi, Aly. Er, Alyssa."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He attempted a fake smile. "What makes you think that something's wrong?" His voice was hoarse and cracked on the word _wrong._ As if that wasn't proof enough…

"You called me Alyssa," I pointed out. "Plus, you sound horrible." I took the seat beside him and lowered my voice. "Tell me what's wrong, Tommy."

He stayed silent.

"What did Finley do to you?" I whispered.

He paled. "Aly, I don't want to get in trouble," he mumbled, his voice wavering.

"You won't," I said quietly.

Tommy's breathing grew sporadic, and he gently pulled up his sleeve to reveal a mess of bruises and cuts on his upper arm. The injuries were nasty, and I turned away, hearing people drawing close to the classroom in the corridor. I stood up. "I'll see to Finley, make sure he doesn't do it again."

Then Nick, Nathan and a tall, thick boy named Nate Panther who had been Gryffindor Keeper the year before entered the room. Tommy whipped around, pulling his sleeve down, opening his mouth as if to make an excuse- but Nick, Nathan and Nate just sat down around him and started talking. A startled expression on his face, Tommy looked around only to see me setting down my things in the front row. Slowly, I gave him one long, gentle nod before turning around and sitting down, facing away from him and his friends.

When I was packing up after Professor Binns' long, tedious lecture on the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards- something we'd learned about in second year and apparently had to review- a note folded into a paper airplane slid onto my desk. Whipping around, I saw Tommy exiting the room with his friends. Nick caught my gaze and held it for a moment- then his nostrils flared and he turned away.

Heart hurting- I couldn't tell any friends except for my closest that I wasn't really a Damien-follower- I heaved a sigh, rotated around, and picked up the note. After unfolding it, I read the only two words scrawled on the parchment.

 _Thank you._

That night, I couldn't sleep. Visions of friends- Kayla, Ana, Nicole, and Nick, just to name a few- glaring at me like I'd betrayed them floated through my head, and whenever I managed to catch a few winks I saw people's skin burst and bleed, including Arthur; Margaret; and many other nameless, faceless students. Finally, I gave up and climbed out of bed.

Opening the curtains between my space and Polly's, I stared up at the silver moon. I could only see about half of it shining down on Hogwarts, but I knew the other side was there. Just like me. Anyone who looked up at the moon who hadn't been told that the entire moon was always there would say that only half of it was there. Anyone who looked at me who hadn't been told that I was a double agent would say that I was an evil, corrupted Damien-follower. But the other half was indeed there, just like the inside of me. People couldn't see it, but it _was_ there.

Closing the curtains, I went down to the common room in my pajamas, only taking time to brush my hair up into a messy little ponytail of light brown curls. As usual, the common room was full of stacks of books, piles of paper, and heaps of dust covering most of it since there was a rule in the Ravenclaw commons: if someone's paper or book is in your way, _you don't touch it._

I knew Polly, who hated dirt and dust, always kept a feather duster in her trunk. I had nothing better to do, so I went up to our room and fetched it. Then I started to clean.

Curtains, quills, papers, walls- no crevice or object escaped my rigorous dusting. Lit only by a few stray candles and the light of the moon and stars, I beat dust off of books, shook it off of statues and brushed it off of brass scales. The sun came up and still I cleaned as sunbeams burst through the high windows, completely illuminating the huge circular room. Finally, I was done, and I collapsed down onto an armchair.

 _Ow!_ I leapt up, feeling something sharp poke me. It was a corner of a book cover that was sticking suspiciously up the side of the armchair cushion, barely visible if you weren't looking for it. I reached for the cushion, heaved it up, and pulled out a large and heavy tome. Bookmarks stuck out all along the side. I peered at those bookmarks. I knew them.

They were Lanie's. I'd seen them before stuck in any book my friend had read here at Hogwarts- bright blue with _LEK_ , Lanie's initials, written carefully across the top of each in beautiful calligraphy.

Cautiously, I turned the book over and read the title.

 _Magick Moste Evile_ , by someone named Godelot.

 _Wait… I've seen this before._ Scrounging my memory, I remembered that I'd seen many a sixth- or seventh-year read the volume in these very commons. It was from the Restricted Section!

 _But these bookmarks are Lanie's. Why would Lanie have a book from the Restricted Section, and why would she put it under a chair cushion?_

Deciding to confront her about it while we got ready- for the time the first class started was fast approaching- I stuck the book back under the chair cushion, nabbed Polly's feather duster from where it sat atop a pile of dust-free papers, and ran for the door that led to the dorms.

Polly wasn't awake yet, so I was able to return the duster to where I'd taken it from without having to explain anything, but everyone else was. They gave me odd looks when I loped into the room wearing pajamas carrying a bundle of multicolored, dusty feathers, but they all soon returned to normal.

Lanie looked exhausted. She had dark circles under her eyes and seemed very groggy. When I asked her about _Magick Moste Evile_ , however, she snapped to attention and pulled me into her space, pulling the curtains shut.

"Sit," she ordered quietly, and I sat on her rumpled bed. Lanie sat next to me and heaved a sigh, grabbing her laurel wand from where it lay on the bedside table.

"It's my fault," she whispered after casting _Muffliato_ , a charm that had risen to popularity during Harry Potter's time and filled the ears of anyone who could've heard our conversation with a loud buzzing noise. "I should've realized that there was a curse, that you guys were taunting us- not _you,_ Aly, but Headmaster Damien's lackeys- and I should've been able to stop Arthur and Margaret. It's my fault they're dead."

I rubbed the bruised part of my arm. "Lanie, it isn't-"

"But it _is_ ," she insisted, a tear leaking into her eye. "Which means it's _my_ duty to find a counter-curse for that border spell, whatever it is. I thought it would be in _Magick Moste Evile_ , but so far none of the curses in there even come _close_ to doing what that spell does."

"Listen, Lanie," I told her, quieting her, "I'll help. I'll help with finding a counter-curse. How did you get _Magick Moste Evile_ out of the Restricted Section? Seeing as we're only fourth-years, you can't have just waltzed in and taken it out. I can use that same trick, whatever it is, to get _more_ books- and I'm a faster reader than you, so we can read more in less time, and-"

"It won't work, Aly," Lanie interrupted softly.

"Why not?" I argued.

"Because I asked Professor Fourier for a note allowing me to have it. He hates the Damien-followers, Aly, and he doesn't know you're a double agent."

"So tell him!" I said, getting frustrated.

Lanie shook her head and explained, "I'm pretty sure that Headmaster Damien is having the teachers- _especially_ Professor Fourier- spied on. Almost like electronic surveillance, but there's _no_ way that he could disable the no-electronics spell on Hogwarts. It took four of the strongest wizards and witches of all time to cast that spell, and it would probably take even more to deactivate it. And last time I checked, there wasn't _one_ witch or wizard as powerful as the Hogwarts founders, let alone four or more. Anyway, we can't tell him. It's too big of a risk."

I lifted my chin. "So I'll ask Headmaster Damien. I'll make up an excuse. I'm good at that sort of thing."

"What do you mean, _no?_ " I cried.

It was the same day, three hours after I'd spoken with Lanie. After Potions- and Lanie was right; judging by the looks Professor Fourier had given me, Katy and Maile, he really _did_ hate the Damien-followers- I'd hurried to Headmaster Damien's office, told the suits of armor it was me (student leader Aly Salinger) and ran up the stairs into his room. And then he'd said that no, I could not have permission to go into the Restricted Section as I pleased.

He folded his hands calmly on his desk. I noticed even _more_ antiques cluttering the small tables surrounding it, and that made me wonder if they were his… or if he'd stolen even more from students. "Alyssa, there is no doubting that you are a wonderful student and the best protégé I could have picked. However, you _are_ only a fourth-year, and without notes from teachers, anyone younger than sixth-years cannot read restricted books."

"Why can't you give me a note?" I said dumbly. "I'm your student leader!"

Calm, ice-blue eyes stared at me, and I felt like they were burrowing into my soul, ascertaining the _real_ reason why I wanted books from the Restricted Section. Quickly, I added, "And I wanted to read up on curses that were mostly harmless but really hilarious so I could have fun with the first-years when they're not behaving properly! Like human Transfiguration- I once read about how a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher turned a student into a ferret and bounced him around in the courtyard."

I worried I might have been a tad overenthusiastic, but Headmaster Damien's face softened, just a little. He nodded. "Barty Crouch Jr. was a truly great Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Still, Alyssa, I can't give you a note for that." His gaze deepened, eyes glaring out from under thick eyebrows. "And as I am aware that some teachers treat my followers with preferential care, I expressly _forbid_ you to use your status as leader of my supporters to gain a pass to the Restricted Section. Should I hear that you have indeed obtained a signed note from a teacher, you shall be denoted and that professor punished. Have I made myself clear, Alyssa?"

I bowed deeply, bile rising in my throat as I did so. "Yes, Commander. Thank you." Then I saluted, turned, and exited. I didn't have a pass to the Restricted Section, I was in danger of being denoted from my high rank- which would completely ruin my double-agent status- and possibly punished, and on top of it all I was late for Study of Ancient Runes. Life was _not_ good.

 **Well? Did you like it? Don't forget to read, review, and check out the forum! Remember, the link is at the top of the page!**

 **Finally, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to the girl who inspired Maile- she is not evil in real life, and deserves the happiest of birthdays!**

 **~atrfla**


	8. Chapter 8: Speeches and Surprises

A month passed and Lanie grew more and more frantic. She finished _Magick Moste Evile_ , as I found out when I discovered _Expanding and Upgrading Spells_ by Viscounte Whyting under the armchair cushion, and apparently neither of those helped. By the week of November 16th, we were both falling asleep in class- her because she was staying up late trying to find the counter-curse to Headmaster Damien's border spell, me because the nightmares kept torturing me whenever I tried napping. Even in class, I'd bolt upright with the bloody faces of Margaret and Arthur running through my mind.

Because of this, my grades started to slip. I couldn't take notes during class if I was dozing, so I often left lessons empty-handed (as did Lanie). Millie, Helen, Polly, Shawnee and Lynne lent us their notes- we studied during free periods, at meals, and I studied late at night- but it wasn't the same as being alert and learning from the teachers themselves, and I found myself getting mediocre grades on quizzes and homework for the first time ever.

It only went downhill from there. Near the end of my first class (which happened to be Herbology) on Wednesday the 18th, a second-year girl with dark hair and pasty skin ducked into Greenhouse Three and spoke with Professor Longbottom. I recognized her as Sara Tabard, the Damien-follower from Slytherin who was under Peggy's command.

"Aly?" Professor Longbottom said quietly when they had finished speaking. "You're wanted in the Headmaster's office."

 _Not again._

I gathered my things- after all, Herbology was almost over- and followed Sara out of the greenhouse. When we were inside the castle, Sara looked at me with an expression of disbelief. "I can't believe you let the professors call you by a nickname," she said in a high-pitched, snide voice. "Not only is it your first name, but it's _so_ disrespectful."

I shrugged. "My name's Aly. That's all there is to it."

She pursed her lips. "Still."

We didn't speak the rest of the way to Headmaster Damien's office. However, when we arrived, she faced me and smiled a little. (Well, it was more like she bared her teeth… but maybe that was how she smiled. Who was I to know?) "You're so lucky, you know. I want to be you in two years."

 _Don't be!_ I screamed in my head. _Even_ I _want to be someone else. Why would you want to be me?_

"You're so smart," she continued, "and even _Commander Damien_ likes you. Everyone does. I want to be like that."

A pang of sadness shot through my heart as the faces of Nicole, Nick, Kayla, Ana, and Professor Fourier popped into my head. "Not everyone likes me," I found myself saying.

She looked surprised for a moment before her face morphed back into a look of half-boredom, half-acceptance. "Oh, you mean the rebels. Well, they'll have to _learn_ to like you. Especially if what Peggy said is true." She smirked and bounded off.

"Wait!" I shouted after her. "What did Peggy say?"

"It's a surprise!" she called over her shoulder.

Accepting that she wasn't going to tell me what Peggy said and making a mental note to ask Peggy what she'd said to Sara about 'rebels' liking me- _oh, tell me one of these people they know are rebels isn't Lanie!_ -, I mumbled "It's me" to the suits of armor guarding Headmaster Damien's office and they let me pass.

The headmaster was sitting behind his desk writing something on parchment. He dipped his quill in a pot of dark green ink, thought for a moment, and wrote something else down.

I cleared my throat.

His head shot up; upon seeing me, he smiled. I was coming to realize that the kind Professor Damien I had known for the past three years was gone- in fact, he may have never existed at all. But even his smile was different. It was a ruthless and vicious grin, more like a grimace now.

"Alyssa," he said softly, glancing down at the parchment he'd been writing on. "Just in time."

I asked, "For, Commander?"

"It has come to my attention that there are some students who are attempting to rebel against me." He coughed into a fist and then continued, "As my… acolyte, I am calling upon you to make a speech tonight at dinner."

"Oh?" I looked up at him, surprised. "Yes, sir. I can start writing it now, if you like."

"No need," he dismissed. "I have written it for you." He reached down and picked up the parchment, waited until the ink seemed dry, and handed it to me. I hunched over the scroll and began to read.

 _Students of Hogwarts! The time spent at Hogwarts is normally very short. But now you are going to spend your entire lives here, and you must become accustomed to that idea. In the past, you have been allowed to go about as you please. The Hogwarts you have known has changed- for the better!_

 _This could have been prevented if you had not rebelled. It is your fault. You are the ones who decided to defy our Commander. More things like this will happen if you choose to continue to resist. You have been warned._

 _It will be easier for you if you join us, if you support our grand Headmaster-_

There was a lot more, but I stopped reading there. It took me a moment to compose myself- I didn't trust my face to not betray the emotions I was feeling. Shock. Horror. Disgust. How could he think this was _right?_

I couldn't make this speech. There was a limit to what I could do without feeling like I was truly on the evil side. So I straightened up and stared Headmaster Damien in the eye. "Sir, are you trying to recruit people?"

"I am forcing them to stop their silly revolt," he corrected me.

I tried to think. "If you're trying to do that, isn't this a bit extreme? Don't you want them to _like_ you? I think I can write a speech that will make them want to follow you a bit more."

He looked at me with such a look for a moment that I was sure I had just compromised myself; then he began to laugh. " _This!_ Alyssa, it is ideas like this that make me sure I have chosen the right successor. You are suggesting that you pose as a double agent of sorts? Get on the good side of the rebels and then report any valuable information back to me?"

I nodded. _I can be a double agent for both sides! Only I'll_ really _be on the side of the rebels. This could save a lot of people. And now if anyone hears me discussing compromising information with Lanie or any one of my friends and they tell Headmaster Damien, he'll think nothing of it._ "Yes, Commander, that's exactly what I'm suggesting."

He reached over the desk and clapped my shoulder hard. "Excellent. Write your own speech, then. Whatever you think will work, Alyssa."

It seemed to be a dismissal, so I nodded, thanked him, and excused myself. I was on the way back to Ravenclaw Tower, reading the speech he'd written over again, when I suddenly rounded a corner and slammed into someone.

It was Brooklyn, and with her was Leja. The latter helped the former up, then noticed me. Of course, me she left on the floor. I had to pick myself up, slowly but surely.

Leja mumbled something I couldn't hear to Brooklyn, to which my cousin replied: "No, you go on without me… I want to talk to my _dear_ cousin."

Something about the word _dear_ and how she said it tipped me off. Brooklyn was furious.

We watched Leja round the corner I'd just come around, and I was turning back to Brooklyn- ready to explain everything, since we hadn't really talked in weeks- when she slapped me across the face.

I stumbled backward, too shocked to say anything.

"What the _hell_ , Aly!" Brooklyn hissed. "How could you do this? I thought I knew you better!"

"Listen, Brooklyn," I said quickly in a hushed voice, "I can explain, trust me-"

My eyes alighted on the piece of parchment that Headmaster Damien had scrawled the speech on.

 _This could have been prevented if you had not rebelled._

 _This could have been prevented…_

 _"_ _It's a surprise!"_ Sara had told me.

"Oh, no," I whispered, snatching the parchment from the floor. "No, no, no. Brooklyn, I'm sorry- I have to go- I'll talk to you later-" and then I was careening through the corridors because something was going to happen at dinner, and Peggy knew, and I had to know.

 **I know it's short but I'll post Chapter 9 later tonight too.**

 **As for the Salinger Year forum... well, I know none (or few) of you have visited it. So maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Okay, then! I'll leave it up in case people decide they want to check it out, but I won't press anyone.**

 **I've also gotten a lot of anon hate lately. I overreacted to some of it, but others... well, if you want to leave anonymous hate messages, try to make them constructive criticism instead of pure flames. That's not my rule, it's Fanfiction's. If you DO want to leave constructive criticism, please check the previous guest reviews. If someone has already left an anonymous review saying whatever you want to say, please don't repeat it! I try to fix everything people have problems with. My main two issues are Aly being a Mary-Sue and having seemingly no faults, and long chapters. This, Chapter Nine, and Chapter Ten were originally going to be one long chapter, so you can see that I'm working on that- and as for Aly's faults... well, she's kind of panicking throughout this entire story. Is that good enough? If not, I'm still working on it, so thank you for your patience.**

 **Finally, I'm sorry for not having posted for so long! I've had a ton of homework and I just joined a sports team that has a LOT of practices. Once again, thank you guys so much for your patience and support.**


	9. Chapter 9: Surprise!

**I told you guys I would post! :)**

The common room was as messy as ever when I burst in. Almost every night I cleaned up the place as much as I could without breaking the keep-your-hands-off-of-other-people's-books rule, but somehow dust just reappeared during the day. It was pretty empty, but I spotted Peggy sitting in a corner reading her Potions textbook. Breathing a sigh of relief, I rushed over to her, trying to seem like I _hadn't_ just been dashing through the halls.

"Aly!" Peggy said when I stopped next to her armchair, looking up from her book. "Hi! What's new? You seem like you're in an awful hurry!"

"I just have a speech to write for the Commander," I panted, attempting to breathe evenly. "I wanted to catch you before you went off to your next class."

"Oh?" She looked mildly interested. "Why?"

"What's happening tonight at dinner?" I inquired. "Sara said I had to ask you because it was a 'surprise'." I made air quotes around the word _surprise_.

"Oh, that!" Peggy laughed. She leaned in and whispered, "Well, I heard this through a couple of second-years who heard it from a Hufflepuff first-year who heard two Slytherin seventh-years talking about what had happened on the way to their first class… so I'm not sure if it's reliable…"

I motioned for her to go on anyway.

"Apparently," Peggy stated, articulating each syllable separately and seeming as if she was rather enjoying the moment, "three rebel leaders were caught conspiring this morning in one of the second-floor corridors during a bag check. One of them had a list of names in her satchel."

 _No!_

"What kind of list?" I pressed. Maybe it was a different list than the one Lanie and I had started…

"A list of names," she told me quietly. "A list of people who serve the Commander. Funny thing, Aly, you weren't on it. The rest of us were, though. I guess they _knew_ about you and weren't going to forget anytime soon. Lucky duck. Everyone in the entire school knows your name."

"Yeah, lucky me." A feeling like I'd just dodged a Killing Curse washed over me. _They don't know the_ real _reason as to why my name is on the list._ But worry replaced it so quickly it was almost like I'd never been relieved at all- _was it Lanie who had the list?_

 _No, it couldn't be. Her turn was last week!_ a little voice in my mind reassured me.

 _Then who?_

 _I have to find Lanie and ask her. She'll know._

"I'm thinking that Commander Damien is going to punish them tonight, maybe even kill them," Peggy said with all the eagerness of a third-year who had just visited Honeydukes for the first time. "Either way, I want to see it. You'll be there?"

"Of course," I assured her. "Can't wait. Wouldn't miss it for all of the money in Gringotts."

Then I ran to my dormitory to find Lanie.

She was there, like she always was during her free time. She didn't have _Expanding and Upgrading Spells_ open on her lap, like I had expected her to- in fact, she had a _different_ book open next to her. Upon closer inspection, it was _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four_. And Lanie, poor Lanie, she was sprawled sideways on her bed, snoring. It looked like she had been studying Charms and toppled over with exhaustion.

I didn't want to wake her, but I had to. Bending over her, I shook my friend awake. "Lanie? Lanie. I know you're tired, but you have to get up. It could be a matter of life and death."

Slowly, she blinked open her eyes. "Timeizzit?" she groaned, her words running together as she threw an arm over her face.

I checked the grandfather clock that Millie and Helen sometimes propped against a window on Saturday mornings to block the light out. "Er, nearly eleven." Herbology had apparently finished while I was in the office of the headmaster, and we had a free period. "I need to talk to you."

"About?" she mumbled.

"The list."

Immediately, Lanie sat up and stared me in the eye. "Tell me he didn't get his hands on it!"

"I think he did," I whispered.

Lanie buried her face in her hands. "I was so careful!"

"Tell me," I pleaded. "Tell me who had the list today."

She murmured a name so quietly that it was incomprehensible. I leaned a bit closer. "Who?"

Lanie sighed, a tear running down her face. "It was Sophie."

" _Jordan?_ " I exclaimed.

"The very one," Lanie whispered.

"Do you know who was going to have it tomorrow?" I pressed. Chances were that Sophie had met with whoever was scheduled to have it the next day. But who was the third?...

"Carter Ryall."

I raised an eyebrow. "Lisa's brother?"

"Yeah," Lanie confirmed with a sad nod. "Oh, Rowena... I normally pass him in the halls on the way back to Ravenclaw Tower, but I didn't see him today. Do you think Headmaster Damien has them?"

I nodded. "Them and one other, according to Peggy."

"Peggy Dalingridge," Lanie said flatly.

"Yes."

"The girl who practically worships Headmaster Damien."

"Yes," I allowed. "Hey, she does that to _me_ , too."

"Fine," Lanie sighed, turning away.

"I can try to find them," I offered. "I can go almost anywhere-"

"Aly, they're probably already dead." Her voice caught as she picked up her charms book and her satchel, which I hadn't noticed because it had been half hidden under the bed. "It's of no use."

She pushed past me, looking more defeated than I'd ever seen her, and exited the dormitory.

I stared after her. There was no doubt in my mind that Lanie was blaming herself more and more- for the deaths of Arthur and Margaret, for the impending-if-not-already-done murders of Carter, Sophie and someone else who was probably just as innocent. A Gryffindor? A Hufflepuff? Another Ravenclaw, another Slytherin, or maybe even a teacher?

Sitting heavily on the bed, I debated using the rest of my free period and maybe even skiving off my next class to try and find Sophie and Carter. But I decided against it. I needed to write a speech. He would keep them alive until at least dinner, right?

And Brooklyn! I felt horrible for running away from her like that. She already hated me- _I have to tell her I'm not_ really _a worshipper of Headmaster Damien!_ \- but probably the encounter we'd had in the hallway hadn't helped. Last year we'd saved the school from a rogue ghost; the year before we had been the heroines of the year; in first year we'd teamed up with the rest of our year to prevent an evil spirit from destroying Hogwarts and possibly the world. Even before we'd come to Hogwarts and had to deal with all of the insane school-saving stuff, we'd been best friends since we were little (she was only five months older than me).

 _She must be really mad. I ought to make it up to her._

 _You have a speech to write,_ argued another voice in my head. _Do you want to make up with Brooklyn or save the school from death and destruction?_

 _Make up with Brooklyn!_ insisted the first voice.

 _Brooklyn could die if you don't keep up your double-agent duties,_ the second voice yelled.

"Bloody hell!" I pressed my hands to my ears, trying to block it out. "I'm going mental."

I hurried from the dormitory, the bickering voices silent in my head.

It seemed, however, that once I started thinking about the speech and stopped thinking about much else, my mind became a blank slate. I couldn't come up with a single idea that would make me sound like an ally to the "rebels" without sounding like an enemy to the followers of Headmaster Damien.

I sat on a window seat in the common room, my knees to my chest and parchment on my lap. The curtains half-obscured me from view, which is why I was startled when someone drew back the folds of fabric.

"Oscar?" I said, confused. "You're here? At Hogwarts?"

Oscar Fitzgerald was about the weirdest kid I'd ever met. He was a jumble of random facts, song lyrics, and a bunch of other stuff, too. I was surprised to see him because it was the middle of November and I hadn't seen him at all since the year before. Then again, Oscar could blend into the background like no one I'd ever known.

"Yes," he said quietly. "You aren't really a student leader for Professor Damien, are you?"

"N-no," I stammered. "I- you do know he's Headmaster now, right? How did you find out?"

"Did you know that Celestina Warbeck's parents met when her mother was attacked by a Lethifold disguised as a stage curtain?" he replied.

I was used to Oscar replying with random facts and not anything of importance at all, so I shook my head and continued, "Oscar, what is it? Why did you come find me?"

"Professor Damien once had a run-in with a Lethifold," Oscar mused. "You are hidden behind a curtain. It could be a Lethifold."

"I'm pretty sure it's not."

"You shouldn't write a speech," Oscar mumbled, so quietly I could barely hear him. "Minister of Magic Faris Spavin once wrote a seven-hour speech on the Leaky Cauldron's impending destruction and the wizarding community rallied against his decision. I wouldn't write a speech."

"I'm not planning for mine to be seven hours long," I responded.

He looked me right in the eye. "This is not a joke. Have you heard the one about the troll, the hag and the leprechaun?"

I joked, "Is it school-appropriate?"

In response, he backed up and let the curtain that could possibly have been a Lethifold but probably wasn't fall back over me.

Shaking my head to clear it- an encounter with Oscar always made you feel like a Wrackspurt had flown into your ear- I rolled up my parchment. Oscar might not have been the most understandable person, but two clear messages had gotten through his jumbled thought process: one, he was on my side, and two, he thought writing a speech was a bad idea. That combined with the fact that I couldn't seem to get a word out on paper sealed the deal for me. I wouldn't make a speech- not the one Headmaster Damien had written for me, not one I had written myself. I would prevent whatever he was planning and that would be all.

Through the day my mind kept flashing back to the speech- my conversations with Sara, Oscar, Peggy, Lanie and Brooklyn- and most importantly, Carter, Sophie, and the unknown person. Were they all right? I dearly hoped they were.

I didn't go to classes the rest of that day. I purposely skipped class for the first time ever, staying back in the common room and reading _Expanding and Upgrading Spells_. Lanie was exhausted and she wanted to stay with me and sleep, but I told her (perhaps a bit too forcefully) to go to class. I could get away with staying back. She couldn't. Plus, if we both skipped class, word would get to Headmaster Damien and he would suspect.

He couldn't suspect.

I wasn't even aware I'd fallen asleep until I was being shaken roughly awake. Blinking sleepily as I awoke from the best sleep I'd had in a month, I opened my eyes to see Peggy. She was smiling, but when she spoke she sounded cross.

"Where have you been? It's nearly dinnertime. I thought you wanted to see the rebel leaders get punished."

"I do," I slurred tiredly, rubbing my eyes.

"Yet here you are sleeping when you could be getting to the Great Hall early!" she exclaimed, tugging on my arm. Her excitement made her seem like a small child visiting Honeydukes (or Zonko's) for the first time. "Come on. If we hurry, we can still set a good example."

Peggy and I careened through the halls and arrived panting at the Great Hall five whole minutes before dinner was due to begin. If anything was good about Headmaster Damien's regime, it was his strict sense of order. Instead of being hectic and spontaneous, like Hogwarts normally was, it was more structured. I enjoyed that, at least. Anyway, it wasn't that great of an example, but Headmaster Damien- who was actually in the Great Hall on time, for once- nodded to us anyhow as we took our seats.

Eve-Charlotte flashed me a smile as I sat down. "Ready?" she whispered. "This is going to be so fun!"

"I've been waiting for it all day," I murmured back.

"Same here!" She grinned.

Unlike me, I had no doubt that Eve-Charlotte actually _had_ been waiting all day to see Lindsey, Sophie, and Carter's punishment. No, wait. I had been waiting all day for it- I'd been waiting all day to stop it.

Only a few minutes passed before Headmaster Damien stood up. It seemed like there were less people in the Great Hall than normal. It seemed like my eyes were magnetically drawn to the empty seats that were normally inhabited by Carter and Sophie.

"Greetings!" he boomed out. Was his voice louder? Had he magically amplified it? I guessed so. "Tonight before dinner I have a very special surprise."

I expected the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables to murmur in surprise or at least seem a little bit emotional, but they just glared at Headmaster Damien the same as the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. _Either they've become very good at guessing when Headmaster Damien doesn't mean what he says... or word got around. Peggy_ did _say she got her information from people who heard it from Slytherins._

He motioned to two Slytherin seventh-years who were standing by one of the side doors. "Bring them in."

There were gasps of shock and horror as the Slytherins disappeared and reappeared, three people levitating in the air above them. _No._ Not people. They were far, far too still to be people.

The corpses of Carter, Sophie, and Lindsey Frowseloure hung limp above us. They looked horrible. Carter had a black eye, the bruise startling against the glassy blue iris that was bright even in death. The left side of Lindsey's face was caked in blood, and Sophie's arm shouldn't have naturally bent that way. _They were_ tortured _before death? No- no! Headmaster Damien is evil but he can't be_ that _evil!_

Headmaster Damien spread his hands. "Ah, but what can I say? These three rebel leaders were discovered conspiring in the second-floor corridor early this morning. I did warn you that those who moved against me would be punished, didn't I?"

"You _tortured_ them!" shouted a voice. Since the Great Hall wasn't so crowded, I could easily see that it was Zach. My heart leaped in my chest. _No! No! Zach ought to be smart enough to know not to speak up! Has he lost his mind?_

Headmaster Damien glanced at Zach, but he didn't seem to be all that mad at him. "No, Mr. Henson. I simply... used methods of persuasion known to me to attempt to make them give up the names of their fellow rebels. However, they refused." His eyes darted away from Zach and swept over everyone else. "If there are any... _mutineers_... here, I strongly advise you to reveal your identity now. I promise I will spare your lives." His lip curled up in a horrible sneer. "Your miserable, lying, cheating lives. They will be spared if you step forward now. In fact, you may even escape without injury if you reveal the names of some of your comrades."

No one spoke. No one so much as even twitched. Even a glance to the side could mean Headmaster Damien's assumption that one was a rebel. I willed Lanie and the rest of my dorm-mates not to move, and was relieved when they didn't.

"Fine!" Headmaster Damien scowled, reaching for something inside his sleeves. "You insolent scum! I know there are more of you!" He drew his wand and brandished it, making a frightening picture with the sneer that was still upon his face. "Will I be forced to kill random people until you feel bad enough to turn yourselves in? Or will I have to kill you all so that I know you are all dead?"

I was up on my feet before I even realized it, the only flicker of motion in an otherwise still room. "Wait!" I cried, knowing full well that he would turn his wand first on Zach and Vincent and Lanie. "Commander, wait."

He turned those piercing, icy blue eyes that were so full of ugly hate and rage on me. "What is it, Miss Salinger? Can't you see I'm busy? Or shall I be forced to kill you too?"

In that moment I knew that just being chosen as Headmaster Damien's protégé would not save me from his mad killing. He was insane, a full-on psychopath, and in that moment I realized how dangerous Hogwarts was and would be until he was gone.

But my rash and foolish brain made me keep talking. "You asked me to make a speech," I said bravely, lifting my chin and staring him in the eye. "Well, I'm ready, Commander."

We stayed locked in our poses, staring each other down, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Headmaster Damien nodded, a small grin slowly spreading across his face. "All right, Alyssa. Go ahead with your... speech."

 **Well? Did you like it? I'm also trying to make Aly seem less hero-ish. In fact, I'm writing First Year at the same time I'm writing Fourth Year and I have a scene where... well, it's good enough and you'll hopefully find out exactly what Aly's biggest faults are soon! :)**

 **~atrfla**


	10. Chapter 10: The Speech

**Hey there!** **I know most of you guys are eager for Chapter 10, so I'll keep this relatively short.**

 **Essentially, it's easy to guess which characters will die in this story- since they don't show up in Fifth Year- and some people have characters that they like. I will never, ever, ever do this again, so listen up.**

 **I'm creating a poll that I'm going to put on my profile page. There's going to be a list of every character that hasn't died yet in Fourth Year but that I'm planning to kill off. Each person can vote for one character. When the time comes, I will spare that one character and make them come back in a later story. But only one! If there is a tie, I will put a tiebreaker poll on my profile and the winner will survive.**

 **I wasn't planning to do this and I won't ever again, so don't miss this chance!**

 **And if you don't want to know what characters die because you've only read Fourth Year and not Fifth Year, just don't vote or get someone else to do it for you. It's as simple as that.**

 **Okay, on with the story!**

Slowly, I turned to face the people in the Great Hall. The full force of how many people were watching me hit me like a Killing Curse, and I found myself quaking in my robes. What was I thinking? I wasn't some great public speaker or hero. I was just a girl trying to save herself and some of her friends.

I lifted my chin anyway. Headmaster Damien expected to hear a speech, so a speech he would hear.

"Students of Hogwarts!" I bellowed. I made eye contact with Lanie, and then Zach. "I know you are scared. I know you are angry. I know that you may have known Carter Ryall, Sophie Jordan or Lindsey Frowseloure." I looked at Lisa Ryall, who was sitting very near the front of the Gryffindor table, her eyes puffy and her cheeks wet with tears. She'd very narrowly escaped a complete meltdown when her brother's body had been brought out. "You may have been their sibling." I glanced over at Kira and Jessie, both of whom were weeping silently. "Or maybe their friend." I took a deep breath. "But either way, don't let yourself throw your life away because they are dead!

"There is no saving Lindsey, Sophie, or Carter," I continued. "They are gone. But we can save _you_." I found Oscar sitting in the very front of the Ravenclaw table and held his intelligent dark brown gaze. "If you are rebelling against Commander Damien, you do not have to turn yourself in."

"Alyssa-" Headmaster Damien started from behind me, his voice low and dangerous.

I ignored him. "You do not have to turn yourself in!" I repeated, louder this time. "All you must do is stop defying our Commander! Sophie, Carter, and Lindsey would not want you to throw your lives away because of them. They are-" I stopped myself. "They _were_ good people, until they joined the rebellion and got themselves killed." I gestured widely with my arms. "You are all intelligent enough to know that following Commander Damien is the only way to survive!"

I turned around and faced the high table. "If you won't think of your own lives, think of your families," I said in a quieter voice. I hated making everyone sad, but it would do the trick. "Think of how much the families of Carter, Sophie and Lindsey will cry. Think of how their hearts will break. Now imagine your own families doing the same thing. Would you really want to put them through that?"

Professor Fourier, on the left side between Professor Brocklehurst and Professor Descoteaux, caught my eye. Gently, he gave me a small but long nod. Relief flooded me. _He knows. He understands that I'm not really on Headmaster Damien's side._

 _Thank Rowena._

I turned back around and let my eyes roam over the crowd. Almost immediately, my eyes snagged on the one person I really needed to talk to. The one person I _really_ needed to understand that I wasn't really on Damien's side.

Ducking under the table and climbing down the few steps so I was on the same level as the rest of the students, I turned my eyes once more to Brooklyn and poured all the power, all the emotion I could into my next words.

"I'm not saying you have to wholeheartedly accept and worship the Commander, as some of us have done- although should you choose to do that, it'll end up better for you in the long run. All I'm saying is that you don't need to rebel against him. He's a good teacher. We all know that- we've all been through his class, except for you first-years. He's an even better leader." I took a deep breath, hoping my next sentence wouldn't get me killed. "He might seem a little mad-" I dared not look at him- "but wouldn't you be, if you were attempting to _peacefully_ and _helpfully_ govern a school and people kept disrupting your Headmastership? I know I would be." I let a smile cross my face, a moment of pure honesty. "Please. We don't want to hurt you, we really don't. Hogwarts would be so much more fun if you accepted the fact that Commander Damien is Headmaster now." I turned back around, ducking under the table and into my seat.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then the Damien-followers burst out in cheers. The Great Hall clapped politely, although I saw a few people- like Lanie- applauding enthusiastically and others- like Nathan, my ex-boyfriend from the previous year- not clapping at all.

I turned around, not daring to glance at any teacher besides Headmaster Damien. He was grinning and his eyes were sparkling. For a moment, he looked like the old Damien, the one I'd known for three years. And then he nodded and his smile seemed more like he was baring his teeth. I shuddered- hopefully not visibly- and turned back around.

It seemed that I had pleased most everyone, for the time being.

 **Really quick, one last thing: if anyone feels the urge to leave anonymous reviews hating on how heroic Aly is, I've already noticed that and am addressing it. Thanks!**

 **(And I know it's short. I didn't have much time to write this one and I wanted to get it done. It's a change from long chapters, eh?)**

 **Okay, I lied! For all fans who would love to see _Fifth Year_ published, please go to my profile page! It's super important! Thank you!**

 **~atrfla**


	11. Chapter 11: Really? A Ball?

**I'm sorry, I know I haven't posted in a long time! This has been because I've had almost no free moments to write. But lately I've found a decent block of time and I whipped out a chapter, so I hope you enjoy this!**

Four weeks passed, as did two of my friends' birthdays: Lyndsay, on December 1, and Brooklyn on the 17th. For Lyndsay's birthday I gifted her a red knit headband patterned with golden flowers. I was growing more adept at knitting, since I'd been staying up almost every night with nothing to do except clean or manipulate yarn. For this reason, Brooklyn got a green-and-black knit pouch- not big enough to carry all of her schoolbooks but large enough to hold her inkpot, quills, and scrap parchment. I smiled a real smile for the first time in a long while on the morning of December 18th when I saw her pull it out of her bag, having used it to carry just that.

And then it was Christmas. I woke up the Sunday before the twenty-fifth and felt something break inside of me when I saw the Christmas decorations in the Ravenclaw common room. Mistletoe hanging in clumps from the domed ceiling- silver garland surrounding the windows- powdery white snow dusting the bookshelves- I nearly broke down in tears once I realized I wouldn't be going home for Christmas. The train had come, no doubt, and been stopped at the barrier. Or perhaps it hadn't even come at all, knowing that none of the children would be able to leave the school. After all we'd been through- after all _I'd_ gone through- I wouldn't even be able to see my family at Christmastime like in my first and third years?

At least Headmaster Damien knew that Christmas was a time of relaxation. He ordered the professors not to give us any homework over break, and instead let us roam the grounds freely. Granted, since we weren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade or anything there wasn't much to do except have snowball fights. Which we did have a lot of. On Tuesday, I looked out the window to see a schoolwide third-year snowball fight- Gryffindor v. Hufflepuff v. Ravenclaw v. Slytherin, what else? And a lot of the older students betted on said snowball fight- at least in Ravenclaw. I overheard three sixth-year boys exchanging friendly bets and banter on who would win, and afterward- when, to nearly everyone's surprise, Hufflepuff crushed the other three Houses- I spotted the shorter two of that group handing silver Sickles and bronze Knuts to the tallest.

So despite the serious and skittish mood that all of Hogwarts had seemed to be in for the past three and a half months, the festive Christmas spirit was settling over everyone. I could barely pass anyone in the halls without hearing "Merry Christmas!" or seeing a couple snog in the corners under some mistletoe. And as for the Christmas songs- _God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs_ and _O Come, All Ye Magical_ seemed to be popular.

Because of all this Christmas cheer- and because I knew how much Headmaster Damien loved holidays and celebrations- I was not surprised when I found a glowing gold envelope on my pillow Tuesday night labeled _Alyssa Salinger, Ravenclaw, Year 4_.

Cries of surprise from behind me let me know that my roommates had also received similar envelopes. Picking mine up, I debated how to open it- _I really need a good letter opener, honestly_ \- before simply ripping it open and reading the letter that fell out.

 _Alyssa, Year 4 Ravenclaw:_

 _You have been invited to the first annual Damien's Yule Ball on Friday, December 25, 2044! It is a dance and dinner from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., where we will enjoy the Christmas festivities, celebrate Christmas, and honor the Commander of our school! Since Commander Damien is aware that this ball was not planned very far in advance, he knows that no one brought dress robes for this school year. Therefore, he has generously commissioned dresses for girls and suits for boys to be made to fit every person who plans to attend. Please report to Classroom 4F (History of Magic) tomorrow- Wednesday, December 23, 2043- for the fitting of your dress. Also, please note that if you do not show up it will be taken as a refusal to attend the ball and all who decline their invitations will be punished. We hope to see you there!_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Finley Denton, Captain of Commander Damien's army_

Beneath the official-looking, loopy script, there was a hastily scrawled note.

 _Aly: I helped Finley write the invitations. They look great, right? I can't wait for the ball! I'm sorry no one told you ahead of time, but you've seemed so distant lately. Maybe this will cheer you up! It ought to be really fun. –Katy_

A _ball_?

How idiotic! We were trapped in a school that had seemed more like a prison as of late, being ruled over by a dictator who got crueler and more tyrannical with each passing hour- and we were having a _ball?_ What was Headmaster Damien _thinking? Surely he knows that this can't end well-_

My eyes landed on Katy's note.

 _Maybe this will cheer you up!_

Maybe the blonde Slytherin girl was right. Perhaps it _would_ cheer me up. In fact, maybe it would cheer the entire _school_ up! I knew morale had been getting low among the rebels- especially in the weeks since the murders of Carter, Lindsey and Sophie- but perchance this was the perfect thing to boost everyone's spirits and get us all back on track.

That's why I showed up to Classroom 4A the next day. That's also why I didn't have such dark, deep bags under my eyes for the first time in ages. Oh, they were still there, but the thought of a confidence-lifting dance had chased away the nightmares for a night and allowed me to get a full night's sleep _and then some._

"Aly!" Katy squealed when I entered the room. It wasn't as crowded as I had originally thought it would be (it turned out later that only fourth-year girls had been sent to Classroom 4A). She waved frantically from where she was standing on the other side of the room getting her dress pinned by a suit of armor. "Well? What do you think?"

I crossed the room and examined her dress. It was short, lacy and mint green, and showed off Katy's pale shoulders and long legs. She was, in fact, very pretty in it- even without makeup and with her hair slightly messy. I nodded approvingly. "It's really cute, Katy!" I didn't even have to pretend to be excited.

She tossed her hair in thanks. "Isn't it? And to think it was just a heap of green lace fabric when I got here last hour!- just a bit shorter, I think," she ordered the suit of armor, who dutifully pinned the hem of her skirt a tiny bit higher.

"Any shorter and it'll be a shirt," said a voice from behind me. It was Maile, looking gorgeous in a satiny dark greenish-black dress with a full dancing skirt that went just past her knees. She frowned at Katy. "This isn't a nightclub from the city, you know."

"I know, but isn't this dress gorgeous?" Katy sighed happily, smoothing down her skirt. The suit of armor set the last pin in the hem of her skirt, and Katy- looking very, _very_ satisfied- disappeared behind one of the temporary walls that had been set up near the front of the classroom. She came out in regular clothes with her dress draped over her arm, and she carefully laid the lacy fabric over a stack of dresses in the corner that still needed to be sewn, making sure not to dislodge any of the pins. Seizing a scrap of parchment from a pile nearby and a quill, she scrawled _Katy Beaurepaire, Slytherin 4_ on the paper and pinned it to her dress with a stray pin.

"There," she breathed, looking rather ditzy. "Perfect. Aly, what are you waiting for?"

I glanced at the decently long line of girls who were waiting for a suit of armor to be freed up so they could be fitted for their dresses. "True," I admitted. "I'd best go get in line."

I had only taken one step towards the end of the line- who happened to be Shawnee, with Lanie in front of her- when Katy seized my arm and giggled. "No, silly," she scolded. "You get to skip the line. Remember, you still get privileges since you're the Commander's protégé!"

 _Oh. Right._ In the excitement of the moment, I'd forgotten all about the fact that we were trapped in Hogwarts being governed by a tyrant. _I guess that's why he's holding the ball_ , I thought as Katy paraded me to the front of the line and pushed me toward the first available suit of armor.

I nearly fell into the big silver anthropomorphic figure; righting myself, I glanced up at its helmet, unsure exactly what to do.

"Just tell it your name," Katy urged. "Then it'll know what dress to make you!"

I frowned, turning to her. "Commander Damien picked out patterns already?"

"And colors, too," chirped Maile, appearing at our side in regular clothes with her dress neatly folded in one hand. "You can change it a little, though- you saw Katy making hers shorter. Stuff like that."

"Just tell it your _name_ ," Katy said, suddenly impatient. "Sami just got here and I want to see your dress color before helping her."

"Alyssa Salinger," I told the suit of armor.

It had been standing still as stone nearby, but when I uttered my name it jumped up immediately and moved toward the window, where piles of fabric in rainbow hue were strategically organized on the windowsill. I watched it move, somewhat warily. I'd never trusted the suits of armor- not since my first year, when they'd gone rogue along with the rest of Hogwarts. The fact that Headmaster Damien had enchanted them to guard his office and sew dresses for a ball and who knew what else didn't endear them to me any more.

And I found myself particularly loathing this suit of armor when it returned from the fabric junkyard carrying armfuls of a sheer, sleek, _bright orange_ fabric.

Katy's bright smile dimmed. "Okay… and here I thought Commander Damien had decent fashion sense."

" _Definitely_ not orange," Maile sneered, wrinkling her large nose. "Not with your eyes. Green and orange together just _clash._ "

Since Maile wanted to be a dress-robe designer for Madam Malkin's when she grew up, I didn't even think about disagreeing with her. Plus, the orange was just plain _ugly_. I would've looked like pop or maybe pumpkin juice.

So I shook my head at the suit of armor. "No, no. Maybe something a bit less… bright?"

"Blue!" Katy suggested brightly.

Maile frowned. "No. Silver. Or grey. It'll bring out her eyes."

"Not _grey_ ," Katy gasped. "She's supposed to stand out! She's the apprentice, the next _commander-_ she simply _can't_ be in _grey._ "

"Silver, then," Maile concluded. Katy began to argue that silver was just like grey, only shinier, but Maile just ignored her and pointedly glanced at me.

I sighed. "Silver, please," I told the suit of armor.

"She's so polite, even to suits of armor," drawled a cynical voice from behind us. It was Sami.

"I see you've finally decided to grace us with your presence instead of standing in the doorway looking lost," Maile said sarcastically, which made Katy laugh.

The suit of armor loped away to return the gaudy orange silk, and Sami slugged Maile in the arm. "Rude," she commented.

" _You're_ rude," Maile retorted, rubbing the spot on her arm that her Gryffindor friend had punched.

"Don't hurt each other," I murmured absent-mindedly, watching the suit of armor mechanically replace the carrot-colored fabric on top of a stack of similar (although much less garish) cloth.

Sami patted me on the shoulder. "Aw, look at that," she cooed sardonically. "Aly's like our mum."

" _I'm_ like your mum, 'cause I'm your captain," Katy corrected her. "Aly's like _my_ mum, which makes her your grandmother."

Sami thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Nah, Kate, you're like the older sister. The _bossy_ older sister," she added with a snide grin. Dodging a playful slap from the taller of the two Slytherin girls, she continued, "And Aly's like our mum!"

"Great," I mumbled under my breath. Even among my peers, I was thought of as a higher power. Couldn't I just be _normal?_ When would I just get to be _Aly_ again- the Aly I'd been for the first ten years of my life- the regular little schoolwitch?

Just then, the suit of armor stomped back up. In its arms was a stunning length of shimmering silver silk that caught the sunlight glimmering from the windows.

Maile nodded approvingly. "Oh yes, _that's_ the color for you, Salinger."

"Shut up, Quentin," Sami pestered her. "Come on, let's go get my dress done. I'm hoping for black, but you never know-"

"Come find us when your dress is done," Katy told me, "or maybe we'll find you." And then all three were moving toward an available suit of armor across the room- pushing in front of a disgruntled Brooklyn, who looked like she'd been waiting for a while. My cousin glared daggers at her roommates and Sami, looking very much like she'd like to set them all on fire.

After what seemed like hours of cutting fabric, sewing seams and pinning hems, the dress was ready for me to try on. I slid behind the temporary walls into one of the hastily set up changing rooms and slipped into the dress, leaving my regular clothes folded neatly on a nearby desk to let everyone know that the impromptu changing room was _occupied._

I took a look at myself in the mirror someone had hung crookedly on the wall, and harrumphed in distaste.

The dress was pretty, there was no doubt about it. And _I_ was pretty _in_ it. It had no sleeves but straps instead, and its waist was high- gathered near the bottom of my rib cage. From that down was a flurry of ruffles, and the entire thing ended about a thumb-length above my knees. It was a lovely dress- for having been made for a suit of armor- but it was wholeheartedly _not_ my style.

It was more the style of Sami or Katy or Maile. I came out of the changing room to the last two fawning over the former, in a long, low-cut, sparkling dark red evening gown. It looked like something my mum would wear, and I had this feeling that with makeup and her hair done Sami would look like she was a child pretending to be an adult; but Maile and Katy seemed to approve of it.

…as they did of mine, too.

"About time you loosened up!" Maile shrieked when she saw me.

"Shoulders nearly bare, knees showing, _ruffles_ …" Sami listed as she circled around me, the look on her face very much like that of a hungry shark having scented blood. "Wow, Aly, you're actually capable of having _fun!_ "

 _Ouch._

Seeing the expression on my face, Katy slapped Sami hard on the arm. "Don't listen to her, Aly. You look really nice!"

But I wasn't worried about the dress. All of a sudden I'd remembered that look on Sami's face, that feeling of being played with, that tone in her voice. I remembered _all_ of that from October 9th- the day Margaret and Arthur had died. I'd been enjoying myself- somehow- but the smile dropped from my face in that moment. Only when Katy consoled me about something she thought was bothering me did I remember that I had a role to play.

That night, the nightmares returned, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. Even the night before the ball, my sleep was filled with screaming and blood and the limp corpses of my friends.

 **So? How did you like it? I thought it wasn't too bad of a chapter overall, even though it was a bit rushed. Please leave your comments in the review box!**


	12. Chapter 12: Presents and Preparation

**All right, I had someone review me a question (thanks, Griffin), so I'll answer that here.**

 ** _Why did Damien pick orange for Aly? Is it symbolic or was it just some random thing that won't be brought up again?_**

 **Okay, it's kind of symbolic. Remember the orange pins- the jewel pins Damien gave each of his followers at the beginning of the story? Orange is Damien's favorite color, so he wants every one of his followers to wear it to represent their loyalty to him.**

"Aly, Aly. You're thrashing. Wake up."

"Ow!"

My eyes fluttered open and the first sight that registered was Millie looking concerned, standing by my bedside with her hands dangling in the air above me. The second thing I saw was Helen standing at the foot of my bed, clutching her face. As she took her hands down, I saw her nose was bright red. "I think you broke it," she said in a muffled voice as blood began to seep from her left nostril.

Lanie stumbled yawning into view, pushing aside my bed curtains with a tired sweep of her hand. "Who broke what?"

"Aly kicked my nose in her sleep," my cousin complained.

"Sorry," I squeaked.

Lanie slung an arm around Helen- only, she was about eight inches shorter, so she more slung an arm around Helen's back. "I'll fix your nose, Helen, and then we can open presents."

Millie helped me sit up and then perched on the edge of my bed, pushing aside the rumpled covers. "Aly, you were screaming in your sleep. Woke us all up- one of the fifth-years from next door actually came over to ask if anyone was being murdered. When we found out _you_ were the one who was screaming and we tried to wake you up, you stopped screaming and started thrashing- you kicked Helen in the face. Are you all right?"

I felt the strong urge to fury my face in my pillow, but managed to resist. "Yes," I lied. "I'm fine. Really. It was just a nightmare."

She didn't look convinced. "Aly-"

"Did someone say presents?" I interrupted, springing out of bed with faux energy. "Awesome!"

Instead of having gifts piled at the foot of our beds, everyone had kept the Christmas presents we had made or gotten for others. The seven of us Ravenclaw girls sat in a circle on the floor of our dormitory, with pillows behind us to prop us up and blankets spread over our laps and a little fire in a jar in the center to keep us warm, and exchanged gifts. Like the birthday presents I had made for Brooklyn and Lyndsay, all of the Christmas gifts I had created for my friends were knit. For Lynne, who was a very dainty kind of person and froze easily, I had knitted a light brown muffler; for Millie, whose dark tanned skin and streaky dark hair always made her look like an angel in white, I made a white hat.

I was the first to distribute my presents, and as I dropped off the creations (including a black cap for Shawnee and a pair of grey mittens for Polly) squeals met the gifts.

Lynne held the muffler to her face. "Ooh, it's so warm and _soft_ ," she enthused. "Thanks, Aly!"

Lanie compared her blue scarf to Helen's leg warmers of the same shade, and Polly rose her eyes up to meet mine and smiled. She'd been even quieter and more solemn than normal after the deaths of Lindsey, Sophie and Carter. "Thanks," she whispered simply.

Then, going counterclockwise around the circle, Helen handed out three Chocolate Frogs each (apparently she kept a large stash somewhere); Lanie gifted small cakes that she must have taken from the Great Hall ("I'm sorry," she apologized, "I couldn't get anything else and I've been _so_ scatterbrained lately-"); Millie made us all everlasting hair clips out of flowers she'd found around the grounds; Shawnee piled her well-worn collection of Muggle books in the center of the room and told us each to pick one (I grabbed _Jane Eyre- I'm not quite sure how to pronounce that-_ by Charlotte Brontë). Polly was really the only one who had obviously been planning her Christmas gifts since summer. We all received new quills (mine was a sleek silver and came with a small pot of black ink).

Not much else happened that morning. Brooklyn dragged Rossalene over and made a seventh-year Ravenclaw from the hall fetch me so we could all exchange gifts- I felt bad giving Brooklyn _another_ knit creation, but she assured me that she loved the black beret with forest green trim as she pulled it over her large mane of wavy hair. Rossalene too pulled her bright yellow, cheery bag over her shoulder and gave me a long bear hug. "I _love_ it!" she gushed. "It's just so _me_!"

Rossalene skipped off through the halls, and suddenly Brooklyn's cheerful façade dropped from her face. She seized my arm and I realized that I hadn't been alone with her since that day in November when when Carter, Lindsey and Sophie had died, since I'd yelled " _I'll talk to you later_ " and run off to find Peggy. I thought I had made up with her during my speech that night, but in that moment I knew I was wrong.

"Tell me," she whispered, tears suddenly glistening in her huge dark eyes. "Tell me why you joined Headmaster Damien's forces."

"I can explain," I stammered, caught off guard. Brooklyn was the strongest person I'd ever known, and she never _ever_ cried. "Trust me-"

"That's what you said last time," my cousin sighed. "What will you have to go run off to do this time?"

"Brooklyn, _listen_."

She shut up and listened.

I pulled her into one of the many nooks lining the hallway and glared her down. "I'm _not_. I thought Lanie had told you. That list- the know that got Lindsey and Sophie and Carter killed- you carried it once, right?"

She nodded wordlessly

"Did you ever read it?" I pressed.

She nodded shakily; a tear spilled from her overflowing left eye. "We all did."

"And did you ever see my name on that list of Damien's troops?"

Brooklyn got a faraway look on her face, like she was thinking hard. "N- _no_ , no, I didn't! But I thought Lanie just _knew_ \- we all just _knew_ \- we didn't need any reminders that you were a t- a tra-" She gulped and whispered, " _Traitor_."

"Do you really distrust me that much?" I asked, my own eyes spilling over.

And then we were both sobbing and hugging, and Brooklyn was pulling out a handkerchief but it was soaked in moments, and she knew I'd been a double agent all along, and I knew she'd always trusted me. Brooklyn would never doubt me, of course, or I her. We each knew the other too well to ever think each other's reasons wrong.

When we had each blubbered enough, Brooklyn glanced at me and grinned. "Aly, we _have_ to tell the others. Leja, Nicole, Kayla, Ana, Nick, Lyndsay- they all _loathe_ you, think you're a traitor."

"But Lyndsay was so happy when I gave her the headband!" I cried, shock hitting me like a Cruciatus Curse to the gut.

"And have you ever seen her _wearing_ it?" Brooklyn countered. "They think you're taunting them or bribing them, it depends on who you ask. Listen, Aly, we _have_ to tell people because-"

The words flew from my mouth before they had even fully registered in my mind. "Brooklyn, we _can't_."

She stopped babbling and eyed me, hurt. "Why not?"

"There are spies _everywhere_ ," I explained softly. "Not even people who necessarily _like_ Headmaster Damien, but people who are willing to sell others out to save their own lives."

"Polly," Brooklyn grumbled.

I laughed. I actually _laughed_ , for the first time in a while. "Brooklyn, that whole fiasco was two years ago! You can trust Polly. _I_ do."

She wrinkled her nose- then broke out into a grin.

"What?" I asked.

"I just realized," she answered happily. "You called him _Headmaster_ , not _Commander_."

"He'd make a rubbish commander," I snarked, elbowing her.

"We have to tell them," she repeated in reply.

Before I could argue more, we both heard someone call my name. "Aly! Aly!"

It was Katy, and after a moment Maile joined in. "Aly!"

Brooklyn seized my wrist, fear in her eyes. Actually, was it fear- or anger- or desperation? "I have to go. But meet me here half an hour after dinner ends on Sunday night." And then my cousin was gone, disappearing into the shadows and running silently down a nearby corridor.

"Well, don't _you_ look happy!" Katy sniggered when I joined her and Maile outside of the spiral staircase that led up to the Ravenclaw commons. "Where were you? We looked everywhere."

"Out and about," I said vaguely.

Maile raised an eyebrow. "With a _boy?_ "

" _What?_ "

"You look happy and won't tell us where you've been," Maile listed, raising one eyebrow and poking me suggestively in the ribs. "Come on, we're your best friends, you can tell us! Who was it- Finley? Eli? Ivan?"

"Finley likes you, I'm sure of it," Katy chimed in, a bit more perkily than necessary.

I gagged in disgust. "Finley _Denton?_ He's a seventh-year! That would be disgusting!" But besides the overwhelming sensation of repugnance, there was something nagging at me, something that didn't add up...

"You two would be the _ultimate_ power couple, though," Maile cooed.

"Like Lachlan and Sara!" Katy swooned. "I heard he asked her to the ball this morning. It's _quite_ romantic."

I stared at her, scandalized. "Sara's a second-year. She's barely even thirteen!"

"So? You only turn fifteen in May," Maile pointed out.

"Yes, and Finley's _eighteen_ in April," I countered. Then I knew what had been bothering me. "Wait. Why would you guess _Eli Lupin_?"

The two blonde Slytherin girls- one tall and slim, one short and stocky, as different as could be- exchanged identical sly grins. "Headmaster Damien didn't tell you?"

"No," I replied slowly.

"We'll keep it a secret, then," Maile mumbled. "Maybe he means it as a surprise."

By now I was tired of Headmaster Damien's 'surprises'. "Means _what?_ " I pestered.

Katy just looped her arm through mine, " _Anyway_ , we came and found you to see if you'd like to get ready in _our_ dormitory. We made the four other girls in our dorm- you know, Brooklyn, Leja, Cher and Grace- go find _other_ places to get ready. Sami's going to come over, and Eve-Charlotte, and Peggy too! It'll be _heaps_ of fun. Are you in?"

"Definitely," I said putting as much excitement as I could muster into my voice.

"Great!" Maile chirped. "Why don't you and Peggy meet us out here at three? Bring everything you'll need to get ready. It'll be like a little party!"

"Do we really need three entire hours to get ready?" I criticized.

"No," Katy replied, "but remember, we have to be there at five to help set up." She blushed beetroot red. "Oops- I forgot to write that on your invitation, Aly."

"Lucky you came along, then," I murmured. "Want to go to lunch?"

 **Yay! Another chapter done. I know it was a little short, so I'll probably post another one soon. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are American!**

 **~atrfla**


	13. Chapter 13: Christmas

**Hey, everyone! Sorry I took so long to post- there were a few things in this chapter that took me forever to figure out. I just want to extend a huge thanks to the girls who inspired Lyndsay and Lanie, for being such a huge help in deciding. Also, happy holidays to you all- and I hope your 2016s are as amazing as your 2015s were!**

 **Warning- parts of this chapter might offend some people. I'm very sorry if they do.**

"Come on," Maile said, tugging at my hand impatiently. "I can hear them!"

She, Peggy, and I burst through the door to the Slytherin fourth-year girls' dormitory. Sara wasn't there- I guessed she was getting ready with the younger female Damien-followers or those who didn't have quite as much power- but Sami, Eve-Charlotte, and Katy were all clustered in a circle on Katy's forest green four-poster bed.

"Peg, Aly, Maile!" Eve-Charlotte called from the circle. "About time! We were just passing the minutes until you got here. We wanted to compare dresses."

Three dresses were already draped over Maile's bed- Sami's, Katy's, and one more that must have been Eve-Charlotte's. It was dark grey and shimmery with white lace trim, and it looked like it was meant as a halter top that wrapped around the wearer's neck. All in all, it was _very_ mature, and I eyed Eve-Charlotte- who was only sixteen and would look foolish in such an adult dress.

Peggy laid her dress next to Katy's, Maile dug hers out of her dresser and put it down on the right of Eve-Charlotte's, and together they left me to spread my dress out over Maile's pillows.

"I thought you said Aly shouldn't wear grey because she had to make a _statement_ ," Maile commented to Katy. "How come Eve-Charlotte's can be grey?"

"First of all," Katy snapped back, "Aly should stand out because she's our future leader. And second of all, Eve-Charlotte's hair is a statement all by itself."

Eve-Charlotte tossed her long, thick red mane. "Thanks."

Peggy grinned at me. "So the rumors are true? You got a _sleeveless_ dress?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't my idea."

"No kidding," Eve-Charlotte drawled. "You never wear _anything_ revealing." She flipped open a small hand mirror and examined her face in it.

"I call the bathroom first," Sami ordered, snatching her dark burgundy evening gown off of Maile's bed and disappearing into the bathroom.

Eve-Charlotte ignored her. "Don't you want any boys to notice you?" she pestered, dark blue eyes burning into mine.

"Speaking of Aly and _boys_ ," Katy gossiped, "guess what? Aly was hanging out with a _boy_ this afternoon and won't tell us who!"

"Wait, _what?_ " Sami screeched, poking her head out of the bathroom door. "Who was it, Aly?"

"I wasn't!" I protested, waving her away.

Eve-Charlotte laid a dainty, creamy hand on my shoulder. "Aly, _dear_ , you know you can tell us! Even if it's a rebel boy." Her beautiful face contorted into a sneer. "It _isn't_ a rebel, right? Not Mason or Owen or that fourth-year Gryffindor boy, what's his name?"

"Nick," Katy helped.

"I don't know who the first two are, and _certainly_ not Nick, he's way too arrogant," I assured them. "I wasn't hanging out with a boy. I just took a walk around the corridors to clear my head."

"Uh-huh," grumbled an unsatisfied Sami.

Katy giggled and added, " _Suuuuure_."

"It's true," I insisted helplessly.

Peggy patted my shoulder comfortingly. "We believe you, Aly. Don't worry."

" _I_ don't," Sami mumbled before disappearing back into the bathroom.

Eve-Charlotte leaned forward. "You _do_ know that Finley fancies you, right?"

"So I've heard," I grumbled.

"She thinks it's _disgusting_ ," Maile added.

Eve-Charlotte giggled. "I'll take him if you won't. He's _handsome_."

"I'm closer to his age, _and_ I'm smarter," Peggy argued.

Eve-Charlotte flopped gracefully (somehow) back onto Katy's soft bed. I sat on Brooklyn's, which was next to Katy's. "Just because you're in Ravenclaw doesn't mean you're smarter than me." Just as Peggy opened her mouth- probably to argue that yes, that was exactly what it meant- Eve-Charlotte sighed. "It doesn't matter, anyway. He fancies Aly."

"He's all yours," I muttered. My attention had been caught by Brooklyn's bedside table, where a shining silver frame was catching the light. The glass was shattered- maybe the frame had been thrown or had caught a wayward curse or something- but the picture, still intact, was of Brooklyn and me hugging outside of the Black family mansion at Christmastime of our first year. I smiled widely. If Brooklyn hadn't trusted me at all during the time when she thought I was a traitor, the picture would've been hidden away or destroyed. _She's trusted me this whole time._

Sami came out from the loo in her stunning, sleek red dress. Sami, like Maile, was a bit pudgy and had a round face- so she looked like a child all dressed up in Mummy's clothes, just like I'd thought the first time I'd seen her wear the gown.

"I want to do your hair," Katy called to Sami.

Maile nodded. "I call doing your makeup!"

Eve-Charlotte grabbed her dress from Maile's bed, winked at me, and vanished into the bathroom.

Slowly but surely, we got ourselves ready. Eve-Charlotte opted to leave her bright orange hair down, much to Maile's disappointment; Katy pacified her best friend by letting her do _her_ hair. Eve-Charlotte found lipstick that matched her hair and applied it liberally, while Peggy and Sami- who had darker skin- opted for darker colors and the two blondes went for pink. Katy did my hair and gave me a strange look when I requested that she put the silver flower clip Millie had given me in my locks. (I didn't tell her it was from Millie.) However, she clipped the carnation that had probably undergone a Color-Changing Charm into my curls, which she had pinned up in a flurry of light brown ringlets.

Eve-Charlotte, the beauty guru of our little group, did most of my makeup and was about to apply the exact same shade of lipstick _she_ was wearing to my lips when Maile shoved her aside. "Pink," she announced, her turquoise eyes daring anyone to challenge her fashion advice. "Her face is too pale. Red would be _too_ bright against that shade of white. Plus, it doesn't go with her dress."

The redheaded whirlwind harrumphed and recapped her lipstick as Maile painted my lips with a blush pink that actually wasn't too bad. Then we all took our orange jewel pins off of our previous outfits and pinned them onto our dresses, triumphing over the fact that we were ready _early_.

"Ten minutes to five!" Peggy, our timekeeper, reminded us.

"We'd best get going," I agreed.

The six of us tromped in a giggling mass down the stairs, through the dark and somewhat creepy Slytherin common room, and around corridors to the Great Hall. We arrived just as the clock struck five.

"Perfectly punctual, as always, Alyssa," Headmaster Damien called from the high table, ignoring the rest of my friends. "But that dress! Didn't I order orange?"

Maile planted her hands on her hips, eyes blazing. "Have you _seen_ Aly? Green eyes and an orange dress? No offense, but _ew_."

I thought Headmaster Damien would murder Maile right then and there. Instead, his mouth twisted into a loopy smile. "True. Who was it that decided such a fact? Was it you, Maile?"

I held my breath as Maile nodded eagerly.

Headmaster Damien's smile stayed bright. "Since you seem to have an eye for beauty, why don't you decorate the Christmas trees? Eve-Charlotte, Alyssa, Lachlan, and you five there"- he pointed to two older Gryffindor girls, a Hufflepuff fifth-year boy, and two first-year Slytherins- "you help her. Maile, you're in charge."

Maile turned to me, glowing. "Do you hear that, Aly?" she squealed as Headmaster Damien gave out orders to another group of helpers. "I have an eye for beauty- and I'm in _charge!_ "

Instead of lining the Great Hall with the trees like normal, Maile whipped her wand out and carefully arranged them in a different way. Six trees lined the Great Hall's sides, three on either side. Five of the remaining six were lined up evenly behind the high table, and the twelfth pine- the biggest of them all- went smack-dab in the middle of the dance floor, which was the half of the hall closer to the main doors. While Finley and Peggy and a few other older students conjured up tables and arranged them closer to the high table, including some on the level we normally ate on (presumably for us as well), I was assigned the Christmas tree that would be placed directly behind Headmaster Damien's seat at the teachers' table. Eve-Charlotte decorated the one to my left, and Lachlan the one to my right. Together we covered the three huge pines in tinsel, popcorn strings, ornaments, and small glowing stars, all shimmering gold. But there was only one problem-

"Where are the stars for the tops of the trees?" Lachlan whined to Maile when she passed by to check our progress. He pointed to the people decorating the six trees lining the Great Hall, who levitated giant golden 2-D stars onto the tops of the huge pines.

Maile consulted Headmaster Damien, who came grinning to our sides. "Ah, yes!" he crowed playfully. "These five trees get very _special_ stars. These, and the one on the dance floor. I'll be right back!"

After dashing out of a side door, Headmaster Damien- his black hair mussed and sweaty but his chillingly light blue eyes glowing brightly- returned with an armful of enormous gold stars. Only, they were picture frames- holding unmoving, black-and-white photos of five faces I thought I'd never see again.

Arthur.

Margaret.

Lindsey.

Carter.

 _Sophie._

Some people may have thought Headmaster Damien was being kind and letting us honor our dead comrades, but I knew better. He was mocking us- mocking the rebels- telling us that he would always be there, watching, knowing.

I grumbled quietly.

Headmaster Damien passed out the stars, then pulled a sixth from the large pocket of his dark robes. It was even bigger than the five with my dead fellow students. "And I'll decorate the one on the dance floor." He grinned, showing us the picture in the star frame. It was tinted gold and _moving_ and it was of Headmaster Damien waving cheerfully, but his smile in the photo was anything but cheerful.

"An homage to you," Maile said in awe.

"A shrine," I repeated softly.

"We should leave it up full-time," Eve-Charlotte added.

Headmaster Damien chuckled, then actually nodded. "A full-time shrine for me? That's an excellent idea, Eve-Charlotte. Alyssa, we'll set that up sometime between New Year's. Come up with a design by Monday, and a location idea or two as well. For now, are you all done decorating the trees?"

Maile scrutinized the rest of the tree-decorating committee, who were also finished, and their work. "Yes, sir," she said proudly...

...and Headmaster Damien ignored her. "Alyssa, take your group and hang banners on the walls." He waved his wand, and floaty golden banners sprouted from the end of the foot-long blackthorn stick before wafting to the floor. Then he hurried off again, seeming more distracted than ever.

Maile stared at me. " _Your_ group?" she protested.

I shrugged, feeling bad for her but pressured at the same time. Maile was a better decorator than I'd ever be, but Headmaster Damien had given me orders and I had to follow them. "I _am_ the protégé. Come on, let's go hang up these banners before they get stepped on."

Half an hour later, normal people were flooding in. I spotted Brooklyn in a shapeless black tunic dress with only one strap for a sleeve. It seemed that the army of Headmaster Damien had gotten all of the fancy patterns for dresses and suits and everyone else's were boring. My friends, though, had found ways to spiff up their outfits some. Brooklyn had sewn a blood-red ribbon into her dress so that it wrapped down the shift, making it decently stunning. Lanie had performed Color-Changing Charms on her once-blue smock, making the sleeveless dress gradiate from a yellow top to a green middle to a blue skirt- and somehow, the skirt flared out into a dancing skirt. Rossalene had started out with a simple but sweet short-sleeved pastel pink dancing dress- it seemed not even a suit of armor could deny the lovable, innocent, permanently joyful Rossalene what she wanted- but she had tied a yellow ribbon around the waist (with a big bow in the back) and attached a length of the same thick yellow trimming around the hem and collar. She was even wearing a piece in her hair, like a broad makeshift headband. Ross always looked gorgeous in pastels and yellow, and with a waterfall of her shimmering black hair cascading down her back and a bright grin on her face, I could tell she knew it.

Rossalene, Brooklyn, Lanie, Shawnee, Lyndsay, Millie (in dull purple), Helen, and Lynne (in light green) all sat together. I yearned to sit with them, but instead forced myself to sit at the smaller, more exclusive Captains' Table.

Katy claimed the seat to my right, and Finley slid into the chair on my left when Headmaster Damien called loudly for everyone to sit down. Ivan sat sullenly next to Finley. ( _I don't know why he's so grumpy- it's not like he has friends he's not being allowed to sit with_ , I thought, and then I immediately felt bad, of course.) Eve-Charlotte and Peggy happily sat next to each other.

"This is going to be _so fun_ ," Peggy shrilled cheerily.

"Silence!" boomed Professor Damien. "You should be eating!"

Sure enough, food had burst into existence on the tabletops. One dish of soup on our table was so full that it nearly spilled during the rough transition from the kitchen- a few drops did soil the pale gold tablecloth. I glanced over the tables that were one lower level than ours, then up at the professors' table. It truly was a grand feast! Shepherd's pie, steak and kidney pie, tarts of all kinds, Sunday roasts, pasties- _I have to hand it to Headmaster Damien... he knows how to throw a party!_

I served myself some shepherd's pie that had been specifically marked _Vegetarian_ and dug in. The Hogwarts house-elves never failed to do food justice. There was a story in my household- apparently, when I was six, I had asked her why we didn't have a house-elf. After all, the Vawdreys had one. For two months, I'd been obsessed with house-elves. My mother had purchased _A History of House-Elves: Version VI (Revised 2006)_ by Osmond Eveque and _Dobby: The House-Elf Who Sparked a Revolution_ by my now-fellow-student Aleyn Prince's mum Chelsea Prince for me, and for eight entire weeks I had refused to put those books down. I'd read all about the House-Elf Uprising in the early 2000's, when house-elves proudly stole and wore socks to demand wages and better care. Mum told me stories about how her house-elf, Ancis, had gone on strike for four months. I even read about my grandparents Black in _A History of House-Elves: Version VI (Revised 2006)_.

 _Caelum and Darcy Black, part of the ancient Black clan who once treated house-elves like the lowest of the low, were one of the first families to agree to pay their house-elf_ , the book claimed. _They had three young children- twins Hesper and Cassiopeia Black, and younger son Pollux Black- and needed a house-elf to help take care of them._

 _Mr. Black stated in a_ Daily Prophet _interview: "I'm head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. If I can't even magically cooperate in my own home, how am I going to magically cooperate internationally?"_

 _Mr. Black's words inspired many wizarding households to agree to pay their house-elves, including the Orpington and Fawley families..._

Apparently, the House-Elf Uprising had left a very strong impression on young Mum. She had let her younger twin, Cassie, inherit the house-elf that was rightfully hers, and she had learned to cook. But she couldn't hold a candle to the food of a house-elf, no matter how delicious her curries were.

"Mmm, this is better than ever," Katy moaned, delicately cutting away a piece of her steak and shoveling it into her mouth. Through the bite of meat, she asked, "Did we get any new house-elves lately?"

"We can't have," Eve-Charlotte pointed out, a superior look on her dainty face. "No one goes in or out of Hogwarts, remember?"

"But what if they Apparated?" Katy argued, putting down her fork.

"People can't Apparate into Hogwarts, idiot," Eve-Charlotte snapped nastily.

"But house-elf magic _is_ different than human magic," Peggy said thoughtfully. "She might have a point."

My heart soared. _Peggy's right! House-elf magic is stronger than human magic. House-elves could take messages to the Ministry. I have to tell Lanie!_

"Maybe," Eve-Charlotte allowed. "I wonder if one could take a letter home for me. Mum would just _love_ to hear all about my fifth year." She grinned, revealing bits of brown food in her teeth.

"There's food on your teeth," I told her as politely as I could.

"Oh! Silly me." She giggled, then swiped her tongue over those bright white canines. "Better?"

"Better," I agreed as she took out her candy-apple-red lipstick and applied another coat. The gorgeous Slytherin girl was being very happy and giddy, way different than the sly, cunning Eve-Charlotte Carew that I normally knew. When she winked at Finley, I understood.

 _She's_ flirting _with him. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, honestly._

Dinner was over all too quick, and then Headmaster Damien nodded to a group of eight sixth-years sitting at a table near the front. He motioned for us to push all of the tables his followers had eaten at out of the way to clear a stage for the musicians. Seven of the sixth-years pulled out different instruments- a flute, an oboe, a cello, two violins, a clarinet, and a harp- and took their positions onstage. The last of them- a lanky Hufflepuff boy- whispered something to Professor Descoteaux, who promptly transfigured a table into a piano for the boy to play. At a gesture from Headmaster Damien, all eight struck up a very jaunty dance tune.

But Headmaster Damien, ever controlling, shook his head. "A slow song," he decreed loudly, "to begin the night."

So the musicians began to play a beautiful but sad slow dance song. The harpist's hands fluttered prettily over her harp while the flute trilled softly for the intro, and the oboe joined in with long, haunting notes, and the cello and violins played harmony to the piano and clarinet's melody.

Someone tapped my shoulder, light and soft.

I spun to see Finley there, very tall and very strong-looking, his brown hair perfectly styled and swept up as opposed to drooping over his forehead like normal. His sky-blue eyes, with the streak of brown in one, sparkled as he held out his hand. "A dance?"

I stared at his tanned, callused hand. "M-me?"

He laughed. "Well, of course! Hogwarts' oldest captain and its golden girl. It's only a dance, Aly."

It sure didn't sound like _only a dance._ I pointed at Eve-Charlotte, desperate for a reasonably polite outlet from this offer. "What about Eve-Charlotte? I'm pretty sure she was flirting with you during dinner-"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Eve-Charlotte is beautiful, yes, but she tries too hard. And no one's eyes are your _exact_ shade of green," he murmured, eyes drilling into mine.

I stammered, thinking fast but not blushing. "My dad's are."

His eyes hardened, and I saw Headmaster Damien in them. Finley was trying so hard to be like our tyrannical leader, and oh, how he was succeeding- happy and kind of bubbly to angry in an instant. "Do you want to dance with me or not?"

There was no way out. I sighed in defeat. "Of course, Finley."

We made our way onto the dance floor and began a simple waltz. I passed by lots of dancing couples while my hands were grasped in Finley's sweaty mitts- namely Tommy and Juliet, plus a lot of older or younger couples. I spotted Sara's slim fingers entwined with Lachlan's as they danced near the Damien Christmas pine, and my ex-boyfriend Nathan dancing with a third-year Gryffindor girl, and a very uncomfortable-looking Polly dancing with Brandon Trotter (a Slytherin in our year whose rich family lived on Brooklyn's street). I even saw Nick dancing with Lyndsay, who was clad in a red-and-purple dress with a fashionably distressed hem and sleeves. Both looked very uncomfortable, like they had been forced to dance together for lack of any other partners, but I was reminded (not too fondly) of their brief second-year romance.

Nick's gaze, sweeping over the crowd, met mine. He was clad in a suit, like every other boy in the room- and like every male student in the Hall except Ivan, Finley, Lachlan and the rest of my fellow Damien-soldiers, the fabric of his suit was a drab color. His was a boring reddish-brown, but he'd spiffed it up with a bright red bow tie. I tried to grin at him, hoping he wouldn't be frowning at me with disgust in my dreams that night.

He frowned at me with disgust and spun away with Lyndsay.

"Aly? Are you okay?" Finley asked gently, moist hands clamping tighter on mine. "You're tensing up."

I stiffened, for I _had_ been tensing up- for no reason. I didn't care about Nick in particular, but right in that moment he represented everyone who despised me, and I adored him for it.

 _I would hate me, too._

"I just need some fresh air," I mumbled, pulling away. "I'll be right back-"

"No, I'll come with you," Finley insisted in an almost grateful tone, latching onto my arm and pushing through the crowds to clear a path for me. He shoved Nick aside a bit too roughly, and the fourth-year Gryffindor boy glowered at the older, taller seventh-year Slytherin, looking like he wanted to jinx him.

 _I would pay to see that_ popped into my head, and I could barely suppress a giggle at the thought.

Finley dragged me out of the Great Hall, past twin suits of armor who moved to block us but fell back when they heard Finley's voice. He stopped just after turning only one corner, into the hallway in which the doors to the lawns resided.

I started toward them, thinking I could maybe lose him in the darkness and snow outside-

His grip tightened on my arm. "It's cold out there, Aly. Stay inside."

"But fresh air," I protested.

In response, he pinned me to the wall by my shoulders.

As I gasped and struggled to get free and cried, "Finley, what are you _doing?_ ", he grinned fiendishly. Gone was the perfect, polished pureblood boy; in his eyes was something different, like the Headmaster-Damien-like flash I'd seen earlier. I saw this all as he leaned in- so I turned my head, and he planted a wet, slobbery kiss on my cheek instead of my lips.

He tried again, but I struggled and thrashed. "Get off of me, Finley," I said in a strained voice. Being pinned to the wall, attacked- it all reminded me very much of the previous year, and Will, and Art, and-

I shoved those horrid memories away and focused on the problem at hand.

"Aly, don't you see?" he crooned, using his elbows to keep me flat against the wall and petting my cheek with one hand while playing with- _tugging at_ \- my collar with the other. "We're perfect for each other, you and I."

Horror and disgust sparked in my brain as his fingers trailed along my skin and I felt one of the seams of my collar rip. Upon seeing the look on my face, the perfect pureblood flashed behind his eyes and disappeared completely, leaving not a trace.

That's why I had no remorse when I kneed Finley Denton in the groin.

He grunted in pain and dropped me, ripping the collar of my dress further, but I didn't care because I was free and he was on the ground, hurt. I didn't take any chances and ran like the coward I was, heaving sobs that racked my body as I sprinted full speed toward Ravenclaw Tower.

It was deserted, with everyone at the ball, and I slammed my hand into the eagle-shaped door knocker. "Let me in!" I panted, tears dripping down my chin.

The oh-so-familiar disembodied, melodious voice issued from the door. "Where do Vanished objects go?"

I racked my brains frantically, knowing Finley would be angrily coming after me any minute and that there were only a few places to check. _Vanished objects- Vanished- Van-_

"?" I guessed.

The door remained silent and did not open.

"No, no, no, _please_ ," I begged, pushing frantically against the wood. "I have to get in- I'm a Ravenclaw, I'm being chased- I'm Alyssa Salinger, fourth-year- _please-_ "

The door clicked open.

I gaped at it in shock, but didn't question my good luck. In I ran and the door slammed shut with a decisive _bang_ behind me.

I practically tore off the dress when I got to my dormitory, ripping it beyond repair as I struggled to rid myself of the phantom hands I could still feel against my skin. My hands were shaking as I pulled on my pajamas and burst into the bathroom. In there, I splashed water on my face until all of my makeup had washed off and my hair and the front of my shirt were soaked, then I dried myself with a quick spell and glanced up at the mirror.

I stared at my reflection, not believing it was really me. My skin had blanched milk-white, and with the cold and stress, it had started to dry out- leaving patches of flaking, cracked skin on my neck and in the crooks of my elbows. I'd grown thin, _too_ thin, and too-big jade eyes that looked just as dull as I felt peered out from a pallid, skeletal face. My lips had turned thin and pale, and the many freckles that had once been splattered all over my face had all but vanished, leaving only a few behind. My red, running nose stood out against the pastiness of the rest of my face. I looked small and starved and sick, not at all like I belonged in the ornate surroundings. What did Nick see when he looked at me, I wondered? What did Lanie- Brooklyn- Katy- Finley- even Headmaster Damien? Did they see a rebel, or a protégé- a weakling, or a leader? Did they see a normal girl? Did they really see me at all?

The girls- and Brooklyn, whose stuff was still in the dorm, piled on Lanie's bed- returned about an hour later, their tones full of excitement as they chattered like birds. I'd lain in bed for the while they were gone, watching the minutes on the clock tick by and trying to sleep. But I couldn't. Every time I started to drift off, I felt Finley's elbows pinning my shoulders to a wall or his slimy kiss on my cheek or his hands ripping at the fabric of my dress, and I bolted upright, screaming or breaking out into cold sweats or just trembling madly. I tried to find positive sides to it all- _at least I'm not seeing Nick's or Ana's or Leja's faces, or any of the dead's-_ but those somewhat optimistic sides to it all drifted away quickly like sand in a strong breeze.

Curled up under the covers with every light out and my bedcurtains drawn around me was I was they came in, happy as clams.

"That was actually really fun," giggled Lynne.

"Except for Damien watching us like a hawk throughout the whole night," grumbled Brooklyn's somewhat surly voice. "And the fact it only lasted an hour when it was supposed to last for _four_."

"Oh, hush," Helen snapped, annoyed. "Just because you were about to get asked to dance by a boy when Headmaster Damien cut the dance short doesn't mean you get to be grumpy!"

"Why _did_ he end the ball?" Millie wondered aloud.

I thought I heard someone mumble something- probably Polly- before Lanie answered, "You didn't see? Finley ran in looking like he was about to murder someone. He spoke to Headmaster Damien for a good five or ten minutes, and that's when Damien Silenced the band and kicked us all out."

"I wonder what it was about?" murmured Helen.

Polly spoke up, maybe for the first time, maybe not. "Aly left with Finley."

"I saw that," Millie agreed.

Lanie gasped. "Did she ever come back?"

"I don't think so," Brooklyn said slowly, all trace of crankiness gone from her voice.

"Where's Aly?" panicked Helen.

"Let's go look for her," Shawnee decided. She'd been very quiet, but her voice was strong and calm, like Shawnee herself. "Maybe she's helping clean up the Great Hall with the rest of the Headmaster's followers. I'll go look there."

"I'll come with you," Lynne chirped, as chipper as ever.

"Helen, let's go check the commons," Millie said as I heard the door open and shut. Fresh tears spilled from my eyes. "Maybe she's hidden somewhere."

As they left, someone threw open my bedcurtains. It was Brooklyn, as I discovered when she yanked off the covers keeping me from the light. I blinked at the sudden rush of brightness, Brooklyn silhouetted against the glow.

"Never mind," she called after Millie and Helen. "She's right here, asleep. Come back-"

But they were already gone. Lanie, walking into my field of vision, ordered, "Polly, go try to catch up with Shawnee and Lynne and Millie and Helen- we found her." Polly left without a word, and Lanie crouched down to look at me as I stared past them at the blue wall. She slapped Brooklyn's skinny ankle, which was hand height for her at the moment. "You goose, she's not asleep, she's been awake this whole time!" She gently laid a hand on my shoulder. "Aly, we were so worried! What happened with you and Finley?"

I met her concerned, tender gaze and burst into tears.

Sobbing out the whole story took me a long time, mostly because I kept pausing to gasp in huge gulps of air. By the time I was finished, Millie, Helen, Polly, Lynne and Shawnee had all returned. At first, they entered laughing that Polly had gotten distraught after not being able to solve the door's riddle (Shawnee had apparently saved them from being stuck outside), but they quieted immediately when they saw me in tears and listened intently.

When I was done, Brooklyn drew her wand from a pocket on her dress that I hadn't even seen existed. "I'll kill him," she whispered darkly. "I'll make him wish he'd never been born. He'll regret laying hands on you, Aly. You can bet on it." With her hair half-falling out of the fancy updo she had pinned it in for the ball, her dark eyes glittering furiously, and her slender, tan fingers gripping her dark wand so hard her knuckles were turning white, she looked for all the world like an avenging warrior ready to carry out her promise.

"Oh, Brooklyn, I wish you could," I wept. "But unless he was trying to kill you, you can't just _murder_ someone. You'd go straight to Azkaban if we ever got out of here. Anyway, Headmaster Damien would kill you on the spot, and I'm sure Finley's learned his lesson now."

Lanie hugged me softly. "Is there anything we can do, then?"

I looked her in the eyes. "Lanie, we have to get out of here and send an owl to the Ministry. _Now._ "

 **So? What did you think? Worth the wait, or not? Leave your comments in the review box below!**


	14. Chapter 14: Truth or Dare?

**Ahahahahaha. It's been almost a month since I've posted.**

 **I'm sorry about that, I've had this chapter done for a while and just completely forgot about it. Oops. Well, here it is now! Enjoy.**

"Come on," Brooklyn urged, tugging my wrist through corridor after corridor. It was the evening of the twenty-seventh, the Sunday after Christmas, half an hour after dinner. I hadn't met her in the hall like she'd wanted me to. Instead, I had ignored her plea from Friday afternoon and had been in the commons reading Lanie's Restricted Section book of the week, _Advanced Potion-Making_ by Libatius Borage. It was our textbook but this one was different, with messy writing scrawled through all of the pages and something about belonging to a Half-Blood Prince on the back cover. It had many spells in it, probably ones this Prince guy had invented- ones like _Sectumsempra_ , which had no description except the words "for enemies" . I vaguely remembered something about a Half-Blood Prince from our unit on Harry Potter in History of Magic class, but the book was too interesting to go look up who he had been. We hadn't found anything useful towards the border spell and taking it down yet, despite the number of books Lanie and I had gone through. The week before had been Marguerite Scroggs's _Border Charms and Caging Hexes_ , and the week before that had been _Powerful Curses and Counter-Curses: Version X_ by B. K. Keckilpenny, and the week before that had…

I tore my mind away from the books, and how Brooklyn had burst through the common room door and dragged me into the corridors, and focused on sprinting after her. Through classrooms and hallways we ran, up staircases, and around the school until finally we found a door in front of us.

I glanced behind me. Covering the huge wall opposite the door was a tapestry depicting a barmy old wizard trying to teach a few unhappy-looking trolls to... dance?

"The Room of Requirement," I voiced in awe.

Brooklyn nodded. "A bunch of fourth-years have been getting together here for a while now to talk, rebel against the headmaster, and just generally have fun." She was being careful, I noted, to keep her voice very low so that only I could hear. You never knew what Damien was doing. "I think Nick started it, although I'm not quite sure how he knew about the Room of Requirement. As far as I knew, you and I were the only two who learned about it in first year, right?"

I shook my head. "No, Nick knew too. He followed me to it once and must have figured out how to open it much like I did. So why am _I_ here?"

"Aly, we have to show him- show them all- that's you're _good_ , not the evil hag they think you are," Brooklyn pleaded, tears welling in her eyes once again. I'd seen Brooklyn cry more this year than I had seen her cry in our entire lives. "If _I_ could distrust you after knowing you for your entire life- Aly, they've only known you for three years, imagine how they must _hate_ you! Nick and Nathan most of all."

"Nathan has a right to," I mumbled. It had been a nasty breakup the previous year. "And you're only five months older than me- _not even._ "

"Nathan's using this whole thing as an excuse to hate you, true," Brooklyn agreed, ignoring my second comment. "But my _point_ was that you're coming to tonight's meeting whether you like it or not." Then she pushed open the door and pulled me into the room.

It was a big space, capacious, with a high arched ceiling like a church. Candles arranged in circles throughout the room flickered golden, the only light source I could see. Arranged in heaps along the walls of the Room of Requirement were plushy cushions, although some of the stacks towered high and unstable while others were compiled of just one or two pillows. It made it look like the collection had been raided, and as I looked toward the center of the spacious room, I discovered why.

A large group of my classmates were sitting in a circle, some actually sitting, others lying on their stomachs, all supported by cushions. Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and Slytherins alike were there, boys and girls- Lea, Lorie, Conor, Nick, Nicole, Rossalene, Steven Dickens (who was a Hufflepuff, but a really smart one), both pairs of twins (Matt Garza and Johnny Gonzalez, who had been split at birth and who had rediscovered each other in our first year; and the Strait girls), Lanie, Shawnee, Will, Polly, Leja, Brandon, and many more. All sat there like they'd been best friends all their lives- all looked comfortable, and as happy as they could be while sharing a castle with a murderer.

That is, until someone spotted me.

Conor pointed and said, "Look." One word, and all turned to me. One word, and all of the relaxed smiles and lazy postures grew stiff and frosty. One word, and I was being glared at by almost everyone in the room.

Except, that is, for Rossalene and my six dorm-mates. Six of those seven jumped up and broke out in grins; Polly, oddly enough, just looked confused. Rossalene, Lanie, Lynne, Millie, Helen, and Shawnee rushed over to me, preparing to hug me, no doubt.

"What's _she_ doing here?" growled a gruff voice.

My friends parted to reveal Nathan, who was closest to us in the circle. He stood to face us, eyes stony and hard.

"Vawdrey, you brought a _spy_ ," he hissed. "Why?"

"She's not a spy," Brooklyn replied, stepping in front of me. I felt a rush of gratitude sweep over me as my best friend stuck up for me. "If anything, she's a spy for _us._ Aly's the one who's been passing us information about Damien and his followers. You can thank _her_ for all of the lives that have been saved."

Nathan stabbed a finger at my chest, eyes like lasers burning into me. I'd never seen him so angry, not even after our ugly breakup. "So we have _you_ to thank for Lindsey and Carter and Sophie- for Arthur, for Margaret! I bet you decorated those trees from Friday night." He shoved Brooklyn, who had been loudly protesting, to the side. "Shut it, Vawdrey. You think she's our spy, but she's _his_. You've endangered us all by bringing her here." Something shifted in his eyes, and for a moment he was the same brokenhearted boy he'd been the year before, when I'd caught him after Charms class and told him I couldn't date him anymore. "I don't want to kill you," he whispered, so quietly that only a few of us could hear him. Then he raised his voice, tones becoming steely and solid. "But killing you is the only option."

"Wait!" Lanie cried as he pulled out his wand, ready to strike me down. I shivered like a coward, not knowing where or how he'd learned a killing curse but not at all doubting he would use it on me, unsure what to do.

 _Maybe it's the best option, letting him kill you_ , a little voice whispered in my head. _Die now, and you won't have to worry about Finley or Brooklyn or Nick or any of them. It'll all be over in a flash of light._

I wasn't a Gryffindor for a reason. I was a sniveling coward, and I knew it. But in my heart, I also knew that a quick, easy death at the hands of my ex-boyfriend wasn't the way I was going to go. If anything, I was going to go out fighting this year, and I was sure as hell going to take some baddies down with me.

I moved quickly, but Shawnee moved faster. She'd been trained in Muggle fighting techniques since she was a small child. With a flick of her arm and a kick that just looked like a blur in my vision, she knocked Nathan's wand to the floor. It skittered across the tile, and Nathan dove for it, but the heel of a boot landed on top of the ash stick before he could make a grab for it. The boot was Brooklyn's.

"Make a move, and I'll snap it," she warned, anger fiery in her eyes. "I don't take kindly to being shoved and being told I'm a stupid liar."

She glanced out at everyone else, sitting in stunned silence. "Aly's not a traitor," she repeated. "Or a liar, or a spy- whatever you may think. Any objections?"

There were none.

"Good," she said, kicking Nathan's wand back to him. "Now, what's on the agenda for today, Nick? Something fun, I hope." She plopped down on the cushion Rossalene had vacated with an exasperated huff.

Nick, holding a scrap of parchment in one hand and a quill in the other, was dumbstruck and staring at me. Conor, who was next to him, jabbed him sharply in the ribs. Nick started, nearly kicking over the pot of ink on the floor in front of him. "What?"

"What are we doing today?" asked Rossalene as she fetched two new cushions and pushed in between Brooklyn and Ana, leaving me to sit on a plush blue cushion with gold tassels between my two best friends.

"Oh. Uh…" Nick glanced down at his parchment. "Truth or Dare, but we have to take roll first. Mari?"

"Here," Hufflepuff Maria "Mari" Bird chirped, sandwiched between Niamh Trevett (her best friend) and Kayla.

"Lorie?"

"Here," Lorie mumbled from across the circle.

On and on the list went. I was surprised by how many fourth-years were there- some forty-odd, at least. Only twice was the ritual of someone's name, and then the word "here", interrupted. Once, when Eli Lupin's name was called. The room was silent- most of us glanced around; Polly shifted uncomfortably; until finally Brandon- one of Eli's roommates- said, "Eli's been missing for a while now. A few days, at least. Either he's dead or he's sick."

Gasps met Brandon's words as slowly, each of us realized that the white-haired, quarter-werewolf boy had indeed been missing since- since even before Christmas!

"Even before that, he was skipping classes," Brandon added, hope creeping into his tone. "Maybe he's just sick? I tried visiting the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey barred the door and told me to stay out."

"Hopefully," mumbled Leja.

Dejected looks passed over all of our faces. If Eli wasn't sick and in the hospital wing, he was dead. Another one lost. And one of our own this time, one of our peers- bright, laughing, prankster Eli. His best friends- Brandon, Johnny, and Matt- looked especially heartbroken.

I saw Nathan sneak an untrusting glance at me, then look away.

The second time was right after Leja's name was called. Nick scribbled something hurriedly on the parchment, looked up at me, and quietly said, "Aly?"

"Here," I replied, strength infusing into my voice as Nick's turquoise eyes met mine in a kind way for the first time in months.

When the last name- Alexandra's- had been called, Nick stood.

"Truth or Dare," he announced. Looking around at all of us seated in a circle with our undivided attention on him, he asked, "Who wants to go first?"

There were some murmurs and whispers before Lea stood up, sweeping her stick-straight blonde hair off of her shoulders. "I'll go, if no one else will."

She turned to her friend Liana, a huge grin on her face. "Li, truth or dare?"

Liana regarded her solemnly. She was a quiet girl, generally, but laughed a lot. "Truth," she finally decided.

Lea's smile grew to that of a lion's about to pounce, and Liana seemed to regret her choice. "Liana," the queen bee purred, "is it true that you danced with Art at the Christmas ball? And-" she leaned in close- "that he kissed you?"

The room exploded into _ooh_ s and catcalls, and Art rose, red-faced, from where he had been sitting between Will and Eric. "That's two questions!" he protested.

"I'll just answer the first one," Liana murmured. "Yes, we danced at the ball."

Lea smirked. "It's okay, Li." She cast a sly glance at Art, whose face- normally the color of caramel with leafy dark freckles splattered across his nose- still resembled a ripe tomato. "I've already got both of my answers."

"Oooh!" Will exclaimed, thumping his best friend on the back as he sat down. "Lucky, mate!"

"Go, Liana," Nick prodded, nodding at her.

Liana tucked a length of her wispy, shoulder-length black hair behind an ear. "Um… Millie. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Millie answered.

"If you had to pick one boy in this room to date-"

A groan arose from the male population of the Room of Requirement.

"No more girly stuff," Brandon moaned.

"Who cares, anyway?" Nate grumbled.

Will grunted his agreement. "Do something fun. Do a dare!"

"I'll take a dare," Tamsin volunteered, standing quickly. I hid a smile, remembering the redhead's affinity for dares from our first year.

Liana looked lost. "I don't know what to dare you," she mumbled.

The boys of the room took on the challenge, shouting out things they wanted to dare Tamsin to do. Seeing that she was unafraid of anything they could think of, they just made the dares as ridiculous as possible.

"Steal us a cake from the kitchen!"

"Climb to the very top of the highest pillow stack!"

"Run about the castle shouting _EAT DUNG, DAMIEN_!"

Tamsin dismissed them all. "You just want cake. Too easy. You've got to be kidding- that could get me killed." Nonchalantly she flicked away dares like pesky flies, until Aleyn stood up.

Except for Polly, Aleyn Prince was easily the shortest person in the room. He had floppy light brown hair in a bowl cut, greenish-blue eyes fringed in dark lashes, and was a pretty quiet kid. His mum, Chelsea Prince, had written many books and was a very famous historian and Hogwarts graduate- Hufflepuff, just like her son. Aleyn didn't like to be thought of as _Chelsea Prince's son_ , so to all of us he was just Aleyn- the short, funny guy who was really bad at Potions.

So when Aleyn held out a beaker full of an ugly purple liquid, the room hushed immediately.

"This is my attempt at a Shrinking Solution from our review class just before the holidays," he declared. "Professor Fourier let me keep it so I could figure out what went wrong. Because it's purple. And it should be green. As you all know, when it's brewed wrong it could be poisonous." He took a deep breath. "Tamsin, I dare you to drink it."

There was an immediate uproar as most of the people in the room cheered in agreement. A couple of people looked worried when Aleyn said the part about it being poisonous, but he pacified them by taking out a bezoar and explaining that he had this in case anything went wrong.

Tamsin had looked excited since the very moment Aleyn had started speaking. She vaulted over a few cushions and snatched the vial from him. Uncorking it, she took a sniff, and her face showed no emotion as she raised the glass to her lips and began to gulp down the vile-looking concoction.

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" A few of the boys started up a chant ( _how juvenile_ ). It slowly spread around the room as Tamsin drank. When there was not a drop of the thin murky liquid left, she handed the beaker back to Aleyn and grinned. Only, it didn't look like she had any teeth.

No… that wasn't right. I squinted. Her teeth had shrunken to tiny white nubs!

 _Pop!_ Tamsin's left arm disappeared- no, it shrank! _Pop!_ Her legs. _Pop!_ Her right arm. _Pop! Pop!_ Her head and-

A cloud of yellowish-green smoke filled the room. Everyone started coughing, especially those who had weaker lungs. When the smoke had cleared away, everyone became silent. Tamsin was gone- disappeared.

"Where'd-" someone began.

"Wait! Look!" Niamh shouted, adjusting her thick black glasses and crawling forward. She scooped something up off of the ground- a tiny person with red hair.

Tamsin had shrunken until she was about as tall as my hand!

That shocked a laugh out of me as Tiny Tamsin scampered up Niamh's arm and perched on her friend's shoulder. "This is awesome!" she chirped. I flinched. Tamsin's somewhat rough voice had transformed into a high and reedy trill- it almost hurt my ears just listening to it. "Thanks, Aleyn!"

Aleyn shrugged, but shyly smiled.

"Blimey, I think you just created a new potion, mate," congratulated Noah Docherty- Aleyn's best friend- thumping him on the back. They made quite a pair, super-tall Noah with his fluffy blond hair and small Aleyn with the darker mane. "Quick, write down your recipe and slap a copyright on it before the Ministry steals it, yeah?"

"Shrinking Solutions are supposed to make the drinker _younger_ , though," argued Bryony Joyner, an overly freckled Hufflepuff who was sitting by her best friend Cheryl "Cher" London. Cher was a Slytherin, but that bothered neither of them.

"That's why it's a _new_ potion," explained Nathan with an air of superiority. "It's-"

Cher glared at him, and he shut up.

"Tamsin, it's your turn," said Nick, reminding us all that we were in the middle of a game, not stare-at-Tiny-Tamsin time.

Tiny Tamsin eyed everyone from her seat on Niamh's hair (somehow she'd gotten up there without anyone noticing, and I silently agreed that Niamh's fluffy bed of short dark curls looked way more comfortable than her bony shoulder). Finally, she pointed an itty-bitty finger at a cluster of boys across the circle from her- a cluster which included Steven, Brandon, and all of the Ravenclaw boys. "Brandon," she chose. "Truth or dare?"

Brandon didn't hesitate. "Dare."

Tamsin grinned a smile that seemed too big for her small face. "I dare you to…." She paused for dramatic effect and tried to pitch her voice lower, but it didn't work. "Kiss Elysa."

Nick and Nathan, who had always been good friends with the flirty girl, looked like they were chewing on Sour Strawberry Apple Strips (a favorite of Shawnee's). Elysa smirked, and Brandon looked interested. Probably half of the boys in the room wanted to kiss Elysa Scrope, really. Tamsin had pretty much just handed the rich, spoiled Trotter boy a gift.

They met in the middle of the room, Elysa smiling coyly, Brandon half-blushing in anticipation. Brooklyn next to me rolled her eyes and groaned. Not only did she hate pretty much anything girly- watching anyone kiss was probably torture for her- she'd _loathed_ the Trotter brothers (Brandon and the two-years-older Seamus) since before she could walk.

I smiled halfheartedly and patted my best friend on the back. Whoops and catcalls interrupted my motion, and I turned back to the circle to find Brandon and Elysa full-on snogging. I gagged. It looked like they were eating each others' faces.

"That _can't_ be comfortable," I whispered to Brooklyn, who tried to stifle her giggles.

"Get a room, you two!" a girl's voice yelled, and the couple broke apart.

Nick looked like he was suppressing the urge to kill someone. "Brandon, your turn."

"Ask Elysa if you're a bad kisser," one of the boys hooted. A group of them burst into snorts of laughter.

Brandon ignored them, turning slightly purple. "Kayla," he decided.

"Dare," the taller of the Strait twins announced immediately. Kayla swept her thin brown shoulder-length hair behind her ears, looking like she could do anything. It was the same look she'd had on the Quidditch field in our second and third years.

"I dare you…" Brandon glanced around the room, no doubt looking for inspiration. He ran a hand through his short dark hair. "Hmm. I dare you to… change your hair to a different color and keep it like that for a week."

Kayla grinned triumphantly. "Easy peasy. Quick Color-Changing Charm should do the trick. Where's my wand?" She dug in her pockets.

"Where do you think he got _that_ idea from?" I murmured to Brooklyn.

"Eli, probably," she suggested. "Haven't you seen his hair wildly changing colors from time to time? His hair was turquoise at the feast, remember? It's-" She coughed. "It _was_ almost like he was a Metamorphmagus, like his father." She bit her lip.

 _It must be difficult talking about her House-mate in the past tense_ , I sympathized in my head.

"Here we are," Kayla proclaimed, whipping the slender chestnut stick with a tassel on the end that made it look like a broomstick from the inner pocket of her dark robes. "What color should I make it?"

"Yellow!" advised a few of the Hufflepuffs.

"Green," shouted Grace Liu, one of Brooklyn's roommates (she was also pretty much the reason I no longer had a crush on Conor Mathieson).

"Pink!" Lea suggested.

"Black," advocated Cher, who (despite being really nice) was rather Goth.

"Just pick a color," grumbled Pedro Fitz-Lewis, a short and skinny Hispanic Gryffindor boy.

"Purple," Kayla selected. Pointing her wand at her own hair, she clearly stated, " _Colovaria_!"

Her tresses turned a very disgusting and unappetizing shade of puce.

This sent most of our peers into giggles, and Kayla frowned. "What? _What?_ " she asked, trying in vain to hold a lock up in front of her face. "I can't see it!"

I fished my hand mirror out of my bag. The Gryffindor girls had given it to me as a birthday gift in our first year (long story), and although I had hated the bronze thing at first- with all of its sapphires and its inscription, _Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_ \- I now carried it faithfully in my bag every day.

Offering it to Kayla from where I sat in the circle, I recommended, "You might want to try again."

Kayla hesitated. She probably still didn't wholly trust me, and rightfully so, but she plucked the mirror from my grasp and offered me a forgiving smile. "Thanks, Aly." Then she grimaced as she realized what color her hair had become. "Yuck! _Colovaria!_ "

This time the strands turned light lilac, and we all cheered and applauded as the newly purple-haired Kayla handed my mirror back to me, bowed, and took her seat.

Then Kayla chose Polly, who had looked supremely uncomfortable since I had arrived, and asked her (for the short sandy-haired girl picked truth) who she considered her best friend at Hogwarts. Polly answered "Lanie," which made me frown. Ross and Polly had grown up together, and I knew that Polly had other friends at Hogwarts too- at the very least, there was a sixth-year Gryffindor girl named Kit Causey whom I'd often seen hanging out with Polly. I wouldn't consider _Lanie_ Polly's best friend at Hogwarts. Why had she said that?

I shook it off. _You're just jealous that she didn't choose you_ , a little voice whispered inside my head.

Polly, looking more mischievous than I'd ever seen her, at that moment asked Lyndsay (who surprisingly went for truth) if it had been awkward dancing with Nick at the ball. Lyndsay laughed out that it had been slightly uncomfortable, but that romance was "o'er an' done wi'," as she put it, so it had just been like dancing with a friend.

Lyndsay selected Nick, no doubt going to ask him the same question, but the former Seeker (arrogant as ever) chose dare. Lyndsay could have easily pulled the old I-dare-you-to-answer-this-question trick, but my friend just didn't roll like that. She simply smiled contentedly and asked the room, "'Oo shouted aet th' bit abou' Damien eatin' dung earlier?"

Conor sheepishly raised a hand.

"Ah like i'," Lyndsay praised. "Nick, ah dare ye tae go outside an' carve _EAT DUNG, DAMIEN-_ " she pronounced _dung_ like _doo-ng_ \- "entae th' corridor wall."

Nick produced his English oak wand and disappeared into the hallway.

Lyndsay crept over to me. "Aly, ye can save 'im if Damien catches 'im, righ'?"

"Probably," I said, although I wasn't at all convinced that I could.

She smiled brightly. "Good! Would'nae wan' tae be responsible for th' death o' another student." She proceeded to scoot on back to her spot.

We waited with bated breath for what seemed like hours. Really, however, it was only four and a half minutes before Nick eased himself back through the door, a euphoric grin on his face. "Done," he chimed triumphantly. "Now it's my turn!"

"I want to see," protested many a person, including Aleyn, Nate, and Mari.

"When we're done," someone soothed. "It's Nick's turn."

Nick scanned the circle, but he had a decisive air about him, like he'd known who he was going to pick since the beginning. "Aly," he said at last. "…Lyss."

The rarely-ever-used-anymore nickname he'd given me in first year lifted my spirits. He hadn't called me Lyss since the end of our first year. No one had ever called me Lyss, except for Nicholas Justice.

I lifted my chin. I liked a good dare as much as the next person, but I knew what I had to choose. There was only one option for me. "Truth." _Let them see that I am not a traitor or a spy. Let them see that I have nothing to hide. Let them see that I have been theirs, not Damien's, from the beginning._

"Are you working for him?" Nick asked. Five simple words. No one needed to know who _he_ was. There was a pleading glint in his eyes, and I knew in that instant why he had asked that.

Brooklyn had vouched for me.

All of my friends had stuck up for me.

But never once had I actually told Nick, or any of them, that I was on _their_ side and not Damien's.

"No," I said, putting all of the strength and truthfulness I could muster into my voice. "I'm working for all of you. I always have been working for all of you. And together, once you decide to trust me, that is-" I shot a pointed glance at Nathan- "together, we will take him down."

 **Ooh, I had fun writing this chapter. Some of you might say it's not important, but it is. Wouldn't you want to take a little break from life if you were stuck in Hogwarts with Headmaster Damien looking for an excuse to kill you all? I know I would.**

 **And I'd like to welcome some new people into the Salinger Year family! I hope your experiences are as good as mine have been- you know who you are. Welcome!**

 **Anyway, leave your comments below! (Sorry if the chapter was a little long, by the way.)**

 **~atrfla**


	15. Chapter 15: Vincent Winters

**It's been over a month since I opened my Fourth Year document on my computer! I'm internally slapping myself, don't worry. But here's another chapter!**

"Ten more hours until 2044," Brooklyn said, pushing her rook towards my bishop and smoothly capturing it. I groaned. I hadn't played wizard's chess in ages, and it was clear that Brooklyn was going to win. _I'll make this yet another of my new year's resolutions: practice chess!_

"We're going to lose," groaned my king.

"Don't talk that way," argued my queen. "Aly, send that pawn up one space."

I did so and grumbled when Brooklyn's only bishop- I had managed to capture one early on in the game- took it, then realized that left me open for my queen to take the bishop. Grinning, I reached out my hand to move my queen forward.

"Not me, you dolt," she screeched at me. "Use _him!_ " She gestured to a knight, who (once he had moved) could easily capture Brooklyn's rook when the queen could not without endangering herself.

I sighed and moved the knight, claiming Brooklyn's last bishop and polishing the ivory game piece on the sleeve of my robe. It snapped at me, and I dropped it onto the table, where (luckily) it didn't break.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice," chastised Brooklyn's other bishop.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I'd just been so frazzled lately. First I'd spent all of Monday and Tuesday creating a gigantic _shrine_ in the fifth-floor corridor for Headmaster Damien (I now avoided said corridor at all costs). Then, Tuesday night, Headmaster Damien had discovered Nick's _EAT DUNG, DAMIEN_ and I'd had to stay up all night cleaning it up and fixing the wall (not like I would've gotten much sleep anyway, but still). Finally, yesterday- Wednesday- he'd forced me to do an impromptu "Gryffindor commons check" with Eve-Charlotte, Sara, and Finley. It was horrible being near the seventh-year Slytherin. Those blue eyes cast me alternating loving glances, like a groom looking at his bride, and glares of loathing. Each time, I winced. _If you don't figure out how to take down that border shield and get an owl to the ministry_ and _kill Damien, you could very well end up Finley Denton's bride._

At the thought, I had gagged. Eve-Charlotte had glanced over at me as she'd rifled through a terrified-looking first-year's bag. "Something wrong, Aly?"

"Just feeling a bit ill," I'd mumbled, scanning the bookshelves for 'rebel propaganda' (whatever _that_ was).

"Go to the hospital wing," she had ordered.

So I'd ended up in the hospital wing (Sara had walked me there and explained I was looking sick to Madam Pomfrey, so I couldn't just go back to the Ravenclaw common room). Sara had left and Madam Pomfrey had ducked into the back room to get some kind of medicinal potion, and I'd noticed a bed at the back of the room with a red curtain drawn around it.

I'd approached the bed and begun to pull back the curtain, and I had just had time to see slender, pale feet with green-and-purple rashes between the toes before Madam Pomfrey had reappeared and dragged me away, her face maroon. "Get away from there!" she'd screeched, her normally calm demeanor gone. She was acting more like the short-tempered, vulture-like Madam Pince- the librarian- than herself. "Do you _want_ to get dragon pox?"

I had gulped and recoiled, staring at the red curtain. "Dragon pox?"

"Yes. It's not too bad of a case, but if you're ill already, you're too vulnerable to be so close to her. Drink this," she'd ordered, shoving a small vial full of dark, syrupy red liquid sloshing around inside into my hands. As I'd thrown the potion into the back of my throat- it tasted like bitter molasses- Madam Pomfrey had sighed, becoming calmer. "I know it's difficult without her around, but I think I've nearly got her cured. You can tell your friends that."

 _Her?_ The feet had been slight, it was true, but Madam Pomfrey had implied that I knew and cared for the girl. But the only person I could think of who was missing- not confirmed dead, just missing- was Eli Lupin.

 _Weird_ , I thought, pushing the scene from my mind for the millionth time since the afternoon before. Brooklyn, without my noticing, had gotten around my barricade of pawns and was dangerously close to my king. I sighed and took her knight.

That evening, at dinner, I could barely pick at my pea-and-potato pie. It was the last day of 2043- wasn't I supposed to be excited? Why couldn't I seem to muster up any enthusiasm?

I was so focused on that, and the New Year's party that Nick and Nathan had organized for that night in the Room of Requirement, _and_ the feet of the mystery girl from the day before, that I didn't even notice at first when the Great Hall fell silent. Or why it had hushed. But when I was paying attention, it was difficult not to notice.

"Damien," yelled out Vincent Winters. He had stood up, not on the floor, not on the bench, but on the _table_. Lyndsay's brother was (for once) tall, and he stood proudly, like he knew it. His shaggy caramel hair was tucked out of his dark eyes, which glittered like black stones set into his sockets. In that moment, Vincent Winters was a revolutionary- and I had never feared more for _anyone's_ life.

" _Commander_ Damien," corrected Finley, almost lazily, from just down the table.

"If you wanted to see him, you should have made an appointment," Eve-Charlotte called out.

I glanced behind me. Headmaster Damien was lounging in his chair, a golden goblet inlaid with rubies as red as blood dangling from his hand. He didn't appear to be listening at first glance, but I knew he was.

" _Damien_ ," shouted Vince, earning his share of concerned glances (Lanie), angry glares (my fellow Damien-followers), and confused looks (just about everyone else). "There are only hours until the new year, and we- the students of Hogwarts- are taking a stand for two thousand and forty-four!"

A few of the Gryffindors behind him- I spotted Liana (although the rest of Lea's group was suspiciously absent), as well as Lisa Ryall and Ash Fleetwood (Nellie's older brother)- started to rhythmically pound on the table.

A fifth-year girl with skin and hair as black as night started up a chant. "New year, new Head! New year, new Head!"

Vincent continued to shout over the chaos. "We refuse to be held prisoner here! We demand to set free!"

The little second-year boy next to the girl leading the chant stood on the bench and waved his arms wildly, encouraging everyone to join in on the chant. I watched his white-blond hair shake with the effort, and suddenly I felt the dread overcome me. I jerked suddenly, going to stand up, but Peggy grabbed my arm and held me down. "He's got it covered," she whispered in my ear. "He doesn't need our help."

For a second I thought she was talking about Vince. Of course, she wasn't.

"We demand for you to perform the counter-spell to the border curse you performed," Vince was continuing loudly. "And we will not tolerate- we will not _attend_ Hogwarts until you are out of the Headmaster's office and in prison for the murders you have committed!"

"Oh, ho," chuckled Headmaster Damien softly from behind me. "You will not _tolerate?_ You will not _attend?_ " His voice grew sharp, cutting. "You _demand?_ "

"We do," announced Vincent. He was riding high on his own fiery spirit, and I knew in my heart that it was only a matter of time before the flames consumed him.

"Young man," Headmaster Damien said, his voice dangerously low, "I do not think you are in a position to _demand_ anything."

"And yet we do anyway!" Vince roared, standing strong on the Gryffindor table, his left foot frighteningly close to a dish of Yorkshire pudding. He enunciated each word of his next sentence like they were each a full sentence, screaming them at Headmaster Damien, firing them off like curses in a duel. "We will _not_ be your perfect society! _We refuse to accept you as-_ "

"Shut _up!_ " screamed the headmaster.

A blast of green light flew over my head and exploded on Vincent's chest.

There was a bright explosion, almost neon green, and I was momentarily blinded. But I could see well enough to watch Vince Winters fall to the ground, dead in an instant.

"An Unforgivable Curse?" I whispered in horror.

"Isn't it amazing?" Peggy murmured back.

Headmaster Damien fired another Killing Curse as I sat rooted to my chair, aghast. Then he fired another, and another. Lisa. Liana. The fifth-year who'd started the chant, and the tiny, pale second-year who had tried so valiantly to rouse the hall to fight. Green light struck them all down.

It was when the second-year dropped to the floor that I snapped. I pushed back my chair, stood (Peggy attempted in vain to grab my arm once more), turned, and leaped over the high table. For a second, I was flying, and Headmaster Damien only had time to fire off one last curse- it just barely missed hitting me, and I think my heart skipped a beat, but I didn't have time to see where it landed or who it hit. I slammed onto the table, wobbling for a second but not falling off, my right foot squishing into a platter of roasted potatoes. Knocking the blackthorn twig from his hand and catching it in my left palm, I ordered, "Stop!"

For one moment I was sure he would simply snap my neck and be done with me, then continue on a killing spree until not a soul was left alive except for himself. But, no. He stopped and stared at me, speechless.

"Pull yourself together!" I hissed. "You're causing a scene!" Then- before I could stop myself, or think better of it- I whacked the tyrant over the head with his own wand.

He blinked dumbly, then grabbed for his wand and he was gone, rushing out a side door and vanishing.

I stood for a second, then turned. How many had died? I counted Liana, Lisa, Vincent, the fifth-year girl, the second-year boy, and Ash- oh, Ash! Nellie was hunched over her brother's body, which was lying across the bench, not having been moved from where it had fallen. Her three friends clustered around her, comforting the second-year and crying along with her. I saw Sunny shoot an angry glance up at our table, where her brother Ivan sat. Liana's friends too had appeared, weeping over their friend's lifeless body.

The worst, though, were Lyndsay and Art. My fellow Ravenclaw's face was a tear-streaked mess, his black hair (normally so perfectly styled) a wreck of drooping curls. He nearly shoved Lea and her group out of the way, then sat on the ground, cradling Liana's head in his lap. Lyndsay was half-screaming and distraught, alternating between shrieking Scottish curses in a brogue so thick it all sounded like gibberish and sobbing Vincent's name. She was shaking, or maybe she was shaking him, I couldn't really tell. But I _could_ tell the exact moment when she broke, when she knew he was really gone, that her older brother was dead and that he was never coming back. Oddly enough, she stopped screaming. Softly, she ran a finger over his eyelids, sliding them closed. Even from up on the dais, I could tell that those dark eyes that had glimmered so proudly and with such fire before were dull and lifeless, the exact opposite of Vince.

Lyndsay reached up to her head. Today her shimmering copper locks were held back by a dark red velvet headband. It was one of her favorites- I'd seen my friend wear it before, quite often. So I was surprised when she yanked it off, jerkily, accidentally wetting the fabric when she brushed it against her tear-stained cheek. She lifted Vince's head very gently, wrapping the velvet around his skull. It matted down his long hair, but it covered his eyes. He could have been sleeping but for the nonexistent rising and falling of his chest.

I mumbled to Eve-Charlotte, who was standing below me, "Where has Commander Damien buried the other bodies?"

"They're in a classroom somewhere," she murmured back. "Maybe in the dungeons?"

Shock stilled my limbs. The headmaster was so unfair, so cruel, that he hadn't even allowed his five previous victims a proper burial? I hadn't expected that of even him. I shook my head, exhausted. "See to it that the bodies of the Gryffindors are put there, then." _I'll see to it later that they're buried properly._

"Yes, Aly," Eve-Charlotte agreed. Then she lowered her voice. "Why did you stop the Commander? It would have been _so_ fun to see all of the Gryffindors killed. Well, not Sami and the others who are with us, of course- but didn't you break up with that one, er, Nathan? Don't you want to see him killed?"

"Not really," I responded tiredly. "If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead by now."

The striking redhead raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a silly crush on some Gryffindor boy, right?" Her eyes narrowed. "Was this mystery man who you were walking with on Christmas morning?"

I stiffened. Here we were, in a room with panicking and sobbing and shocked students (not to mention the six corpses), and Eve-Charlotte was choosing to question me about my _love life?_

"I just don't want any more bloodshed," I sighed, my mind singling out Ash. "Take Ash, there." I gestured to the murdered boy, tall for a third-year, black hair matted, brown eyes staring blankly off into the distance while his little sister cried above him.

"Who?"

"Ash Fleetwood. That one." I pointed again. "He was really, _really_ smart. I heard he was a Gryffindor-Ravenclaw hatstall from his sister Nellie, who's a Ravenclaw."

"What about him?" my friend asked. Already she was bored and yawning.

"Imagine if he'd grown up to cure a previously fatal disease," I invented. "Now he's dead, and he won't ever have the chance. And Lisa, Lisa Ryall- since Carter's been killed too, she was the heir to an empire of love potions. Now the Ryall Potions Co. might go out of business, with no one to run it when the current owners die."

"We're in a fortress," Eve-Charlotte pointed out, like she was talking to a small child. "No incurable diseases can reach us here. Plus, the Ryall family lost both of their children the second they arrived at Hogwarts."

"I just don't want any more bloodshed!" I shouted at her, more exasperated than I was tired now.

Eve-Charlotte froze. The Great Hall quieted instantly. I turned to everyone, still and staring at me, and hopped off the high table. I hadn't even realized I was still standing there. Potatoes squished under the heel of my shoe as I landed.

"Peggy," I ordered. "Gather a team and grab the bodies. Finley, Eve-Charlotte, go find Commander Damien and ask him where to _put_ the bodies. Ivan, Katy, and the rest of you- escort the students back to their common rooms."

Everyone hesitated.

" _Now!_ " I repeated pointedly, and everyone sprang into action. The siblings and friends of the dead students didn't even cry or scream as Damien-soldiers led them away from their murdered brothers, sisters, or colleagues. They just dumbly put one foot in front of the other, one step, two steps, three, four, five, until I was alone in the Great Hall. Even the teachers had left.

I felt out of place. I'd just ordered around the entire population of Hogwarts! Half of the students were younger than me, yes, but the fifth-years? The sixth-years? The seventh-years? _The professors?_ In that instant I knew I was holding a position of _extreme_ power.

And although I felt horrible that I hadn't been able to save the slain six from Headmaster Damien's quick curses and even quicker temper, I kind of liked being in charge for once.

Later that night, I found Lanie sitting on my bed reading two books at once. The rest of Ravenclaw was quiet. Any parties that had been scheduled for tonight had been canceled the second Vince Winters' final breath had left him. Half of the people of the tower were asleep in their beds, waiting for their dreams to carry them into the new year. Some of the girls in my dormitory were doing that. Helen, Millie, even Polly, who was tossing and turning and mumbling in her sleep. But Lanie was decidedly awake, turning pages in the Half-Blood Prince copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ and also _Expanding and Upgrading Spells_. "I can't believe I never realized it before," she said in a quavery voice that was walking a fine line between marveling and weeping. "The Half-Blood Prince, both dark and light- of _course_ Damien would use his spell as the base to create his own."

"Create his…"

"His own border spell," she answered simply. "That's why no one knows the counter-curse. He couldn't risk using a well-known curse that some seventh-year or professor could bring down with a few simple words. Plus, he wanted to make it cruel, to ensure that no one would ever try to go near the border after the first casualties." Lanie looked up at me, turquoise eyes bright- with tears or excitement? "Aly, he _combined_ two spells. That's _incredibly_ difficult- he must have been working on this for months."

"Does that mean…" I whispered.

Lanie nodded, sadly. "He's been evil for a long, long time. It's not just something brought on recently or anything. This is the real Damien Kayash, the one he's always been, at least inside."

I thought about how happy Headmaster Damien had been in my first through third years- he could be serious, sure, but he'd never been happier than on Valentine's Day. I remembered him from my first year, excitedly greeting students at the doors to the Great Hall which he had decorated while Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress at the time, had eyed the cupids suspiciously but said nothing. (The cupids had ended up being problematic, but that was beside the point.) How could someone so joyful and cheery turn so malicious and immoral?

I didn't let myself dwell on that. Instead, I sat down beside Lanie on the plush mattress and pulled _Advanced Potion-Making_ into my lap. "If he combined two spells, does that mean if we combine the two counter-spells, we have ourselves the counter-curse?"

Lanie smiled sadly. "We might."

"Okay!" I chirped, cheering up. "You find the border spell's counter-spell, I'll find the one that makes it violent and bloody's counter-curse. Do you know what it's called?"

"I don't want to say it out loud, it could be a very sensitive curse," Lanie explained. "But it's marked _for enemies_."

 _I remember that one. Suctumsumpra? No, Sectumsempra._ I flipped through the pages, looking for that word.

"Even if we could find them both, it would still take months to combine the two spells, and who knows? Either one of us could be dead by then. But, Aly," Lanie said softly as I reached the page, "there's no counter-spell for that curse."

The words, scrawled in stark black ink across the slightly yellowed paper, only confirmed my smart friend's statement as they stared up at me. _Sectumsempra. For enemies._ That was all.

"And even if we could send owls," she continued, "we couldn't ask the Half-Blood Prince."

I rubbed my eyes. It was nearing eleven o'clock, according to the clock on the wall, and I was already exhausted. "Why? Remind me who he is again?"

" _Was_ ," Lanie corrected, pushing her thin silken hair from her eyes. "The Half-Blood Prince, also known as Severus Snape, was murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the Second Wizarding War."

" _Severus Snape!_ " I exclaimed, maybe a bit too loudly. (Somewhere close, Shawnee groaned.) "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape- why didn't I remember that?"

"You're exhausted," Lanie reminded me. As if on cue, I yawned. "We'll figure out the counter-curse somehow. At least we know what spells he combined to make his barrier. She pointed to _Expanding and Upgrading Spells_. Paintings of a clear dome arching over a Scottish cottage (the dome was shimmery in the book, so you could see it) as well as a dark-skinned woman drawing a line in the dirt with her wand made up almost an entire page. _Solid Border Spell_ , read the title of the page. And there was the counter-spell, too! In very fine print next to the counter-spell ( _Terminus Abolescus_ ) were the words, _CAN ONLY BE PERFORMED FROM INSIDE THE BORDER._

I nearly laughed in exhilaration (or maybe it was just the exhaustion getting to me). We were partway there, closer to solving this fiasco than we'd been since October!

"I'll get off your bed," Lanie said, gathering up her books and standing. "You've been yawning- you should get some sleep. See you in the new year, Aly."

I glanced at the clock and started. There were only fifteen minutes to midnight. I'd read the clock wrong in my wearied state.

"See you in the new year," I replied as I pulled my bed-curtains around me and crawled between the covers. I didn't even bother to change into my pajamas or brush my teeth. I hadn't eaten at the feast anyway.

But despite my frequent yawns, I couldn't fall asleep. For at least ten minutes, I laid there, waiting for the darkness to claim me. And then-

 _Bong! Bong! Bong!_

The grandfather clock in the Ravenclaw common room started to toll twelve bongs to start off the New Year. In Ravenclaw House, it was tradition to make twelve wishes- one per _bong!_ \- if you were still awake. I'd been asleep my first and second years, but last year I'd made my twelve wishes. Since I was still awake, I intended to do the same this year.

 _I wish that we would find the counter-curse._

 _I wish that we could find a way to defeat Headmaster Damien._

 _I wish for no one else to die._

I waited for the fourth toll-

 _Bong! Bong!_

 _I wish that Finley would just leave me alone._

 _I wish that Nathan and the rest of the fourth-years would stop hating me._

A few beds over, I heard Lanie mumbling her own wishes. I heard _Aly_ and _safe_ and tuned her out, but that gave me an idea.

 _Bong!_

 _I wish for all of my friends' safety._

 _Bong!_

 _I wish to pass all of my exams this year._

 _Bong!_

Eight.

 _I wish that I could sleep without nightmares._

 _Bong!_

 _I wish that this year will be better than last year._

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

I took a deep breath. I'd had nine complicated wishes. Now for the three simple ones I'd done last year.

 _I wish for money._

 _I wish for love._

 _I wish for power._

And although I hadn't expected it to, one of my wishes came true in that instant. I fell asleep, and when I woke up a full eight hours later, I realized that the first night of 2044 had been completely nightmare-free.

 **I've been waiting to write the death of Vincent Winters for forever, ever since the girl who inspired Lyndsay suggested I base him off of one of our friends! I actually had that friend beta read this chapter. Thanks for all your help, man!**

 **Was it good? Thank you guys for all your patience! xx**

 **~atrfla**


	16. Chapter 16: Quidditch (But Not Really)

**I meant to post this during Spring Break- oops. Well, summer is closing in, so I should be able to write a little more once that comes!**

 **In the meantime, enjoy!**

Within the fourth year, we dubbed Headmaster Damien's outburst the _Gryffindor Massacre_. After all, six had died, all from the lion house. They had died like lions, they deserved to be remembered like them.

Only two fourth-years had been _directly_ affected by the deaths of Vincent, Lisa, Liana, Ash, the fifth-year girl, and the second-year boy (I learned from Nick that their names had been Camellia and Alexei)- Art and Lyndsay. Of course we were all devastated, especially the popular Gryffindor girls, but Art was a mess. His face was permanently streaked with tears, and he hadn't said a word since Liana had died. His dark curls, normally so perfectly styled into a fluffy nest, were in the same droopy, messy state they'd been in on New Year's Eve. Lyndsay seemed mostly unaffected- just a little quieter was all- but I knew she was hurting, probably even more than Art. She was angry, too. But she seemed to keep it bottled up inside as she helped the rest of us set up the shrine.

Yes, _shrine._

It was the Sunday before classes started, and for the second time in a week, I was setting up a shrine.

About half of the candles in the Room of Requirement had been moved to stand by one of the walls, where six ornate golden pedestals stood clustered together. Vincent's was the most prominent, with the biggest candle blazing bright on top of the base next to a picture of Vince that was probably a few years old. The short boy looked about our age in the photo as he laughed with another boy, a friend back home, no doubt. The picture smiled whenever Lyndsay entered its sight, and it always waved furiously to anyone who looked its way. Wrapped around the base of the candle was one of Vince's House ties. As the candle burned, melted wax would eventually stick the tie to the pedestal, making the shrine permanent. The podium itself was covered in sheer, floaty, shimmery gold fabric, and the base of it was bedecked in red poppies.

The whole process had been repeated with the other five shrines (only with pictures of a shyly grinning Liana, Lisa striking a silly pose, Ash with an arm thrown around Nellie, Camellia smiling contentedly, and Alexei making a face). I recognized the pedestals from my first year, left over from the room's incarnation that I knew fondly as the Gryffindor Room. It was raining outside, pouring down water like the sky itself was crying for the perished Gryffindors, but yet the still-tiny Tamsin, Lanie, Lorie, and Lynne had ventured out into the cold and wet. They had brought back armfuls and armfuls of the red poppies without explaining where they had picked them, but no one had complained. Millie and Helen had set to trimming the flowers. Art and Lyndsay had claimed decorating rights for Liana's and Vincent's shrines, respectively. Well, Art hadn't really _claimed_ anything, but whenever anyone came over with a trimmed poppy for Liana's shrine he snatched it from their hands without saying a word.

Decorating the shrines took about forty-five minutes, total. While the flower-gatherers dried each other off with quick spells, the rest of us arranged the remainder of the candles to give the main gathering optimal lighting. Once everyone was dry and lit up, we claimed our cushions and sat in our normal circle. Nick took attendance, purposely skipping Liana's name and letting a beat of silence hang sorrowfully in the air instead. She was the first fourth-year we'd definitely lost (I'd decided that Eli was the patient in the infirmary- Madam Pomfrey had simply been confused about who she was taking care of. Madam Pomfrey was a great Healer, but she was getting older- she was bound to mix some stuff up). He didn't even hesitate on my name this time, though.

"Welcome to today's meeting," Nick announced. "As you all know, our last meeting was supposed to be a New Year's Eve party, but it got cancelled in light of- er- recent events." He cleared his throat, not a single trace of his usual arrogance showing through, and gestured to Nathan.

His friend stood. "Since a New Year's party wouldn't be very appropriate now that we're already three days into January," Nathan explained, "we decided to do something different. Who here has ever played Quidditch?"

A fair amount of people raised their hands.

A mischievous glint appeared in Nick's eye. "What about… _indoor Quidditch?_ "

All of the hands, including mine, went down.

Nick sighed. "It's just Quidditch indoors and with no Bludgers. But _people_ can knock others off their brooms instead!"

Nathan rolled his eyes. It was obvious that this was Nick's scheme for raising everyone's spirits, and although Nathan had been privy to this before that moment, it was as plain as the nose on his face that he didn't like it. He had never really liked Quidditch, which was odd considering his best friend lived for it. "If none of you want to play it, we can always do something else-"

" _No_ ," everyone else said.

Nathan sat down, looking sheepish and a bit disgruntled.

"How do you score?" Kayla asked Nick. The Hufflepuff Keeper from the previous year's face had lit up the moment Nick had mentioned Quidditch- she missed the sport, just like I did.

"See the target on the wall?"

I glanced away from Nick and up at the west wall, where there was a big red circle painted perfectly in the center. _Huh. How did I not notice that when I first came in? I guess I was preoccupied with the shrines._

"No Keepers," Nick continued- Kayla's face fell- "but you just try to hit that target. Ten points every time you do so."

"Team captains?" someone suggested.

Brooklyn stood. "Me."

Someone else shouted out, "Nick- you go!"

Nick smirked. He'd already been standing- no doubt he'd planned to be a captain from the start. "Anyone object to Brooklyn and me as captains?" He glanced around, but when no one spoke up he grinned and beckoned for my best friend to go stand by him. (She did.) "Come on, Vawdrey! Who'll pick first?"

"Ladies first, I think," Nathan said, pointing to Brooklyn.

My best friend glanced at Nick. "You heard the boy, Justice- ladies first!" She gestured to him.

Nick took the snub gracefully and curtsied, causing an uproar of laughter from our gathered comrades. He cleared his throat, fluttered his eyelashes in a very good imitation of Elysa, and spoke in a falsetto. "I'd be _delighted_ to-" His voice cracked, and he lapsed back into his normal semi-deep speech amid howls of laughter. "You sure, Brooklyn?"

She shrugged and caught my eye. "Won't make much of a difference, yeah?"

 _Nick won't pick me_ , I mentally assured her, even though she couldn't hear me. _If you're going to pick me first- and I know you will, we've been playing Quidditch together ever since we got our first kiddy brooms for Christmas when we were little tykes- you don't have to worry._

"Everyone who's playing, line up shoulder-to-shoulder across the room," Nick ordered. "Everyone who _isn't_ playing, sit behind them."

About half of us stood and arranged ourselves in a line that spanned partway across the spacious room. The other half- which included Rossalene, Steven, Nathan, Elysa, Art, and Eric- pulled a bunch of cushions together to create sidelines and sat behind us, unsure which team to cheer for yet.

Nick scanned the line. His eyes alighted on Lanie, but instead, he decided, "Aly."

I stood there for a moment and then moved robotically to stand behind Nick.

Brooklyn folded her arms and glared at him. "Not fair, Nick- you only chose her because you knew I was going to."

Nick ignored her words, but gave her a victorious smile. "It's your turn."

Brooklyn sighed. "Er… Lanie."

Lanie walked up and grinned at Brooklyn.

"Pick Shawnee," I suggested quietly.

"Nate," Nick picked instead. Brooklyn ended up getting Shawnee.

This pattern continued, Nick picking his friends and Brooklyn choosing all of the good players, mostly people who'd been on teams before. We got Tommy, Lyndsay, Melissa, Lea, Aleyn, Lynne, Jamie, even Brandon Trotter. In the end, Nick had a team of eleven, as did Brooklyn (she had, in addition to those already mentioned, Conor, Will, Kayla, Mari, Grace, Lorie, Helen and Alexandra). They used the Color-Changing Charm to turn their robes a brilliant white, while we kept ours black. Tommy, who had been steadily recovering his cheeriness ever since the Christmas Ball, suggested we turn them red, for Gryffindor- but Aleyn, Lynne, Jamie, Brandon and I shot that down real fast.

"Here's the Quaffle," Nick said, appearing with a dusty red ball. I hadn't even noticed he was gone. "Anyone can be a Chaser, even the Seeker, but there can only be one Seeker. No one else can catch the Snitch." He opened his left fist, which had been closed tightly, and out zoomed a small golden Snitch with sharp, fluttering wings. It tried to zip away, but Nick snatched it from the air with his easy, agile Seeker's reflexes.

"Where'd you get _that?_ " Aleyn asked in awe.

"Nicked it," Nick said casually, releasing the snitch and allowing it to flitter quickly away. It was gone in an instant. I found myself admiring Nick's reflexes. I would never have been able to move that fast. "Anyway, I'll be the Seeker for my team."

Brandon, who'd been Slytherin's Seeker the previous year, wrinkled his nose but didn't object.

"Lanie's our Seeker," Brooklyn decided.

"What about Mari?" someone pointed out.

Mari shook her head. "No, I'm fine with Lanie being Seeker!"

"Perfect," Nick agreed, nodding. I ground my teeth together at his arrogance. Thinking he could beat Lanie that quickly! "Now we just need a referee. Anyone want to volunteer? Someone neutral."

"A Hufflepuff, maybe?" Lynne suggested, fiddling with the hem of her dark robe.

"Steven, you go," Lanie put forward. "You like Quidditch, right?"

The quiet Hufflepuff boy slowly stood. "I guess. Captains, shake hands."

Brooklyn held out her hand, and Nick shook it. I assumed that he did something to annoy her, like tickle her palm with a finger, because Brooklyn snatched her hand back as if she'd been burned. I stifled a little giggle. A real _giggle_. Under Damien's regime, playing a sport with my friends, I was beginning to lighten up and enjoy myself.

"Mount your brooms," Steven droned.

"Wait!" Kayla held up a palm, stopping him. "We need brooms first!"

Nick pointed to a corner behind the sidelines. I glanced at the shadowy place, and was surprised to see a stack of brooms- old brooms, but reliable-looking ones- piled there.

 _Those weren't there before, I'm sure of it!_

"I love this room," Lea sighed contentedly as we all hurried to claim a broom. The one I took was a Nimbus Two Thousand and One- a broom that was probably nearly fifty years old, but still very fast and with some of the latest safety precautions. I patted the handle as I hurried back to my spot and waited for Steven to call for mounting again.

There turned out to be twenty-three brooms. Steven, who was neither a great flier nor a bad one, took the last Nimbus rather reluctantly. "Mount your brooms," he said with even less vigor than he'd had before. "Do I need a whistle?"

Rossalene tossed him one from where it hadn't quite _appeared_ but more _been_ beside her cushion without her noticing. Steven's reflexes weren't that horrible either, and he caught it quite easily. "On my mark. One… two…"

 _Tweet!_

I rose into the air, feeling both relief and loathing. How I'd longed to fly again, to play Quidditch- but no, this wasn't Quidditch. There was no wind whipping my straggly curls around and into my face. I was wearing no gear. There was no natural light- barely any light at all, really- and the stale air was starting to stifle me. Suddenly I felt suffocated, like someone just out of reach was pressing a pillow over my face and I could no more breathe than I could reach him.

"Aly! Catch!"

 _Bam!_

Something slammed into my chest, and instantly I could breathe again. Instinctively, I grabbed hold of whatever had hit me and took a tighter hold of my broom so I wouldn't fall off. I was holding the Quaffle, and sturdy Will in bright white robes was rocketing towards me, ready to knock me off of my broom.

I swerved to the left, found myself facing a trio of very fierce-looking figures in white, and jerked my broom sharply upwards. I wasn't a great Chaser, but I knew enough to be able to pass properly. When I spotted that Brandon was open, I promptly did so.

The Slytherin boy, unused to being a Chaser as he was, caught the Quaffle and then fumbled it. Not much, but he did drop it a few feet accidentally to where Grace was patiently waiting. She sped off toward the red target.

 _Bam!_ Stocky Tommy crashed into Grace from the side. Her broom flipped over, and Grace's waterfall of shiny black hair streamed down toward the floor. She was forced to grab on to her broom with both hands in order to avoid the thirty-foot drop to the floor, and the Quaffle fell two feet, five feet, fifteen feet.

Grace flipped back over and patted her now-messy hair back into its normal straight mane at the same instant that Jamie snatched the Quaffle. She was immediately confronted by Mari, but I urged my broom to speed up and fly right at the dark-skinned Hufflepuff girl. Her many beaded braids clinked together as she was forced to flee in order to stay on her broom, leaving the path clear for Jamie to throw the Quaffle at the target. Her toss was intercepted by Conor.

"A Mathieson throw intercepted by a Mathieson!" boomed Johnny. He was clearly having a field day, having apparently nominated himself and Matt as commentators for the match. The sudden loud voice nearly startled me off of my broom, but I stayed on.

"What a play!" Matt added. His voice, when magnified as it was, was hilariously high-pitched, but he didn't seem to notice. "And now Conor's got the Quaffle, he's dangerously close to that target, that's the problem with only having one scoring area…"

"But Melissa's blocked him, and he's forced to fly farther out," Johnny interrupted. "Wait- has Nick seen the Snitch?"

All eyes turned to Nick, except for Conor's. The latter Gryffindor boy darted around all of us as we searched quickly to find the former, and I only saw him throw the Quaffle with all of his might out of the corner of my eye.

Nick shook his head and waved his arms wildly, yelling for us not to pay attention to _him_ but to the Quaffle. By then, it was too late- Matt was shouting that the score was ten-naught to Team Brooklyn.

The game went on for about an hour with no sign of the Snitch, and (surprisingly) Team Nick was in the lead by twenty points when the door to the Room of Requirement slammed open. In the door stood Cher, panting, her face brilliant red against her black hair. I hadn't even noticed she was gone.

"We have to run," she gasped out. "Headmaster Damien's coming here- _now_ \- they passed the first-floor girls' lavatory as I was coming out, saying that if they could catch the rebels in the act of meeting-" her voice seemed to rise an octave- "they'll finally have an excuse to kill us all!"

We had landed while she was speaking, all of us who had been playing Quidditch, and Nathan was on his feet in an instant. "What are you all waiting around for?" he screamed. " _Run!_ "

There was a mad stampede for the door, which magically became large enough in the next moment to let all of us pass through in seconds. Nick grabbed my arm in the hallway. "Some of us have to stay here and take the blame for the others. Pretend like you've caught me. Shove me up against the wall or something- and it's okay if I die, don't blow your cover protecting me." His turquoise eyes were wide and scared, but his mouth was set in a grim, determined line.

I pulled my wand out. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," I whispered as the corridor rapidly cleared. "But you're not going to die on my watch, Justice."

I pinned his arm to his side with one hand, mumbled another apology, and slammed him into the wall. I could hear a stampede of people rounding a nearby corner, and I glanced over- thankfully, the door to the Room of Requirement had vanished since nobody was in it anymore. I put my wand to Nick's throat, where it brushed against his Adam's apple, which bobbed as he gulped nervously. Either he was a very good actor or he wasn't as brave as he claimed to be in the face of death. I resolved not to let him die even if It meant my own murder. Of course, if I was killed he probably would be too, and soon after.

The footsteps came closer, and I put an expression of loathing on my face as I glared at Nick. Just as the sounds of Headmaster Damien's army seemed to be just around the corner, I growled, "Why so suspicious-looking? There's nothing in this corridor for you to see. Moseying along down it won't do you any good."

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and heard the feet slow and still. Then I spotted the flicker of gratefulness in Nick's eyes and knew I was making the right choice to not act as if I'd caught him actually doing anything wrong.

Nick gurgled, and I realized that I may have been pressing my wand against his throat a little too hard. I lightened the pressure but kept my wand at the ready- not to kill Nick, but to set off some kind of charm to allow the two of us to escape should we need to.

"Speak up!" I demanded.

He coughed. "Got caught in a… moving staircase…." He coughed again. "Got lost. I was going down… to the Great Hall."

I narrowed my eyes but let him go. He half-fell, half-slid to the floor, massaging his throat. I prodded him with my wand, trying not to wince when he flinched. "Well? Get up! We're going to the Great Hall!"

Nick slowly got to his feet, I jabbed my wand into his back as softly as I could, and together we turned to face the masses.

I saw Headmaster Damien first, leading the charge, his black hair bushy and blue eyes glittering with a feral light. Then I spotted all five captains behind him- Eve-Charlotte looking beautiful as usual, Ivan stoic and silent, Peggy excited, Katy shocked, and Finley the exact copy of his master. Then there were the hordes behind them. I tried my best to look surprised. "Commander! Is something wrong?"

Finley's eyes narrowed, but Headmaster Damien spoke first. "What are you doing here, Alyssa?"

I raised my chin. "I received the same tip you did." It was a foolish gamble, and I realized belatedly that Nick was in front of me and would die first if anyone shot a Killing Curse. I tensed instantly, ready to throw him to the side.

But after a beat, Headmaster Damien threw back his head and laughed. It was a hearty and true laugh, not beastly or frightening, and I found myself wanting to laugh along with him for a change. The thought didn't terrify me as it once would have.

"Of course," Headmaster Damien said once he had regained his composure. "He is a help to us all, isn't he? Come with me." He beckoned.

I gestured to Nick, making sure that the relief didn't show on my face. "I was about to escort him to the Great Hall-"

Katy stepped forward. "I'll do it. Come on, Justice." She took my place and stabbed her wand hard between Nick's shoulderblades, harder than I had. He arched his back and hunched his shoulders together, probably trying not to cry out in pain. Katy shot me a look, one I recognized well from years of being around Brooklyn- it was a _we'll talk about this later_ look. Then the two marched away, and I followed Headmaster Damien down the corridor in the direction of his office.

 **So? What did you think? You know the drill- R &R, please.**


	17. Chapter 17: Planning

**Remember what I said about finishing this story on May 9?**

 **Hahahahahahahahahahaha!**

 **That's not happening. I've got too much work, and with exams coming up...**

 **But I'm trying to get this story done! I really am~ I have it all planned out. Don't worry!**

 **In the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy this chapter...**

"Zis is your homework!" announced Professor Descoteaux with a flourish of his fir wand. His scratchy script began to write itself on the board. I squinted- sometimes sitting in the back of the room had its perks, but barely being able to read the board at times was not one of them. Each word appeared as he said it. "Read ze pages two hundred and zirteen to two hundred and zirty-four, which covers Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Write six inches detailing ze five exceptions, to be turned in on Friday. You are dismissed!"

I stayed a little longer to copy down the homework on a piece of scrap parchment. Lately I had been forgetting a lot, but in my defense, I was preoccupied. It was the first of February, meaning that nearly a month had passed since the day of the indoor Quidditch game after which Headmaster Damien had called me into his office and burdened me with yet another task. His birthday was on March fourth, he'd said, so he would like me to organize a "Damien Day" to occur on that date. All classes would be cancelled, and the whole day would be one gigantic party.

"I _could_ ask one of the captains," he'd explained, "but you know me so well, Alyssa. I don't want to know anything other than the fact that you're throwing a party for me! Just write down what you need on scrap parchment and give it to me, and I'll see that you have it."

I could have said no… but the look on Headmaster Damien's face was too much to refuse. He looked like a soon-to-be-first-year about to receive their first pet from the Magical Menagerie. Plus, I knew how much the Headmaster loved a good party- the celebrations that he had thrown in my three previous years only proved that fact- and if the fact that he wanted one meant that he was returning to the normal Damien Kayash that we all knew and adored again… what else could I do but agree?

Lanie had been the first person to know, of course, and Brooklyn the second. Between the three of us, we'd tried to dream up something that we could get Headmaster Damien to give us without him getting suspicious. Sadly, we could think of nothing, so they gave up and left me to plan a party on my own. Instead, I enlisted the help of my dream team- Katy, Sami, Maile, Eve-Charlotte, and Peggy. Together we thought up a huge celebration, complete with streamers, banners, cake and confetti. Eve-Charlotte was desperate to bring in performers, but instead I put Katy in charge of finding the most talented entertainers we had in Hogwarts already and collecting them to create amusement. Maile planned the color scheme, and she wasn't thrilled to find out that I wanted all of the decorations to be orange. "It's such an _ugly_ color," she had whined, but eventually she had given in. For the upcoming Saturday, she and I had planned a huge banner-making festival in the Great Hall. I even had plans to keep Commander Damien busy. Peggy had been wanting to create a school newspaper for a while now, and so since I needed the Headmaster distracted for a few hours, I'd ordered her to go interview him and just generally keep him preoccupied. Peggy could be very good at waffling when she needed to be.

I tore myself out of my thoughts of the party, which was only a month and three days away, and finished copying down my homework. Mondays were the worst day of the week.

It seemed that my dormmates agreed with me, because that afternoon there was a chorus of groans as we began to take out our homework. Lanie sat beside me on my bed and flipped to page 216 in _Intermediate Transfiguration_.

"Gamp's Law is sixth-year stuff," she complained. "I mean, it's easy, but we aren't supposed to learn this for another two years! Maybe even three!"

I read the law, emblazoned in bold black script on the page, and then the five exceptions listed below it.

 **All objects can be created by magic.**

Exceptions:

 _Food_

 _Money_

 _Clothing_

 _Body Parts_

 _Temperature_

"First exception- food," I began, already dipping my silver quill (the one Polly had gifted me for Christmas) in its pot of ink. Ideas began to run through my head as to how we could elaborate on the exception. "Maybe whoever invented magic didn't want people who grew and made food to be out of a job?"

"Silly Aly," Lynne chided from across the room where she sat on her bed, "no one _invented_ magic."

"Anyway, even if they did, what about the people who made other things that you _can_ create through magic?" Millie pointed out. "Did they just not care about them?"

"Maybe they were a chef, or a farmer," I suggested.

Helen groaned and covered her ears. "Ugh, this is getting way too philosophical for me! Can we just do this idiotic homework and get it over with?"

I returned to writing my essay, wiping the extra ink off of my quill. "Okay, so maybe we don't try to explain _why_ food is an exception… can we find examples in our history textbooks of when the first exception to Gamp's Law was important?"

"How about when people starved to death?" Shawnee proposed darkly, thick eyebrows wrinkled.

"Everyone, hush!" Lanie ordered suddenly.

A quick silence fell over the room, and everyone looked at Lanie. Polly even poked her head out of where she was organizing her things with her bedcurtains half-closed.

Our friend was sitting with her eyes tightly shut, and I could practically see the gears turning in her head. Finally, she whispered something that I couldn't make out. I leaned in closer. "What was that?"

"I said," she repeated, "how is Damien feeding us all if he can't conjure up food out of nowhere?"

For the second time in as many minutes, a hush blanketed the room. This time, however, it wasn't meek, but shocked. Stunned. Lanie… what had she figured out?

"It's not like he can Apparate away and come back with food- that spell's too powerful, no one could ever break it," Lanie continued.

The moment she said _Apparate_ , my heart sank, crestfallen. "Wait. We never checked with the house-elves." Mentally, I berated myself for totally forgetting about my revelation at the Christmas ball. I added, "Maybe they get the food, not Damien, somehow?"

"Oh…" Shawnee breathed.

"House-elf magic is stronger!" Lanie gasped in realization. "Aly, when did you figure this out?"

"Er… yesterday," I lied.

She seized my hands and a smile broke across her features, lighting up her face. "Brilliant. We'll have to go tonight, of course. Who knows how to get into the kitchens?"

"Hufflepuff's common room is near it," Lynne chimed in, coming to stand by us. "That's sadly all I know." Her cheeks were a pale pink. "I don't know where their commons are, or how to get in to the kitchens."

"It might be that none of the Hufflepuffs know how to get in either, though," Millie pointed out. "Naturally, we should ask the Slytherins. They're always sneaking around, right?"

Polly flushed deep maroon and opened her mouth- no doubt to agree with Millie, since she came from a very anti-Slytherin family- but Helen beat her to it. "No, that would be the Gryffindors," she argued. "Have you heard the amount of times Nick, Nate, and the rest of those boys brag about having snuck out of their dorms at night and explored the castle?"

Lanie assumed the leadership position (it was a nice change). "All right, we'll partner up to ask the other Houses if they know where the kitchen is and how to get in. We can tell all of our friends why we need to know, but only if necessary- we don't want this getting back to Damien somehow. Shawnee, Polly-"

Those two looked at her. Polly was still blushing.

"Take Slytherin, please."

Millie and Helen breathed twin sighs of relief. Lanie turned to them. "You two get Gryffindor. Try not to flirt so much, okay? This is life or death stuff."

Millie nodded solemnly, but Helen looked properly outraged. "We don't flirt _that_ much!"

I fixed my cousin with a steely glare. She shut up.

Finally, Lanie pointed to Lynne. "You and I will take the Hufflepuff table. I'll ask the boys, if you want to take the girls-"

"Sounds good!" our cheerful French friend chirped, far too excited for this possible suicide operation. For a second, I was glad I wouldn't be carrying it out with them, even though that would probably leave me to be the distraction so they could do their thing. If Damien saw them switching tables, singled out the lone spots of blue at the green or red or yellow tables…

"If he spots us doing this, we're dead." Polly spoke plainly, simply, her voice significantly deeper than normal. I briefly wondered if she was a Legilimens- if she could read my thoughts. According to Mum, those people could be highly dangerous.

The brief thought of my mother, of my family, of _home_ brought hot, stinging tears to my eyes. I blinked them away, pushing those feelings to the back of my mind as I nodded to Polly.

"I know. I guess I'll just have to distract him."

I puzzled over this for the next hour and a half. By the time dinner arrived, I had a plan- however flimsy, it was still a plan.

I watched Lanie carefully from my vantage point at my regular seat. We had a signal ready, and she would be the one to initiate it. I went over the plan time and time again as I shoveled meatless shepherd's pie- Headmaster Damien had learned of my vegetarian preferences and now made sure I had plenty of options as to what to eat, which was more than I could say for our previous Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall- into my mouth. I was so focused on this that I nearly missed the signal.

Lanie pulled a scrap of fabric out of the pocket of her robes- one of Lyndsay's headbands that she'd borrowed a while back, a yellow thing with purple spots. It was positively hideous. She fastened it around her short, bobbed hair and smiled in my direction.

That was it. They were ready to move.

I pushed my chair back and stood, abandoning my shepherd's pie to turn and walk the few steps to the high table. I cleared my throat. "Er… Commander?"

Headmaster Damien swallowed whatever he was eating (it looked like roast chicken and potatoes, from what I could see). "Can it wait, Alyssa?"

"Well, it's about March fourth," I said, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'd like to announce in now. In short, I need to speak to everyone."

He brightened. "Of course! You have my full permission to speak." Damien leaned back and selected a seasoned potato chunk from his plate.

I coughed. "Well… without you, sir."

It took a moment as he chewed the potato chunk for my true question to dawn on him; when it did, a clear understanding settled over his features. "Ah, yes!" he agreed, dumping a few more foods on his plate and picking it up. He stood. "I'll take this back to my office, then. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!" He winked one cheerful, ice-blue eye, then grabbed his silverware and strode out.

Instantly, I heard movement from behind me. All of my fellow Damien-followers had turned to face me, their confused faces asking why I'd sent our anger-prone commander out and how I'd done it so easily. I motioned for them to gather around me, effectively making sure they were all facing away from the normal students. My dorm-mates began to move. Lanie claimed an empty spot next to Steven at the Hufflepuff table; Lynne slid onto the bench only a few feet away, between the Strait twins, Ana and Kayla. Polly and Shawnee slipped into seats across from each other, the former between Brandon and a sixth-year boy, the latter between Grace and Cher. Helen knelt on the bench between Lea and Lorie, and finally- after what looked like a momentary panic due to unavailability of seats- Millie squeezed in next to Nick. With a quiet sigh of relief, I briefed my captains as quickly as I could as to why I'd sent Damien out, and they nodded in agreement and explained to their followers in hushed whispers as I took the stage.

"People of Hogwarts!" I bellowed. "May I have your attention, please!"

Although the Hall quieted, I tried to speak loudly so my friends could whisper to whomever they needed to talk to. Lynne, it seemed, had already finished speaking with Ana and had moved on to Kayla.

"You may not know this," I continued, "but March fourth will mark the thirty-ninth birthday of our illustrious leader, Damien Kayash."

There were a few surprised murmurs, but no big reaction.

"We, his followers, your superiors, his army," I went on, casting glances at my fellow Damien-followers to check that they could not see my face before rolling my eyes at my own stupidly grandiose speech, "have decided to throw him a celebration."

Still no response.

I sighed in exasperation, then threw my arms up and shouted, "There's going to be a big party!"

Finally they understood. A cheer rose, loud enough to startle me. I saw a few people exchange worried glances, but most people genuinely looked excited.

"Entertainment is needed," I announced. "If you think that you may be able to provide some- perhaps you would like to sing or dance for our leader, or you have a funny play to put on, or something similar- please come speak to these five captains after dinner." I gestured to Katy, Ivan, Finley, Peggy, and Eve-Charlotte (all five of whom waved as I pointed to them). Katy had found a few good musicians, but not many. I figured I could knock down two birds with one stone by asking entertainers to find her while distracting Damien so my friends could talk to our fellow fourth-years.

Some people began to chatter with their neighbors. I saw Millie, who appeared to be snapping at Nick and Nathan angrily. What had they done to provoke my normally calm roommate's temper?

Quieting the Hall with a wave of my hand, I carried on speaking. "Also, this Saturday we will be hosting a decoration-making get-together here, in the Great Hall, from one in the afternoon to four in the afternoon. It is voluntary, for the time being. If we do not make enough decorations, we will hold another one, and that one _will_ be mandatory." I gave a pleading smile. "So please come to the first one! If you would like to, leave your name, year, and House with any one of the remainder of the Commander's army." I gestured to everyone except for the five captains I'd singled out earlier. "That is all! Thank you, and enjoy your supper."

I sat down, and the rest of the Damien-followers did the same. _There! Now I can ensure none of the Damien-followers can follow us, because they'll all be busy taking down names for the party. And I'm party-planning at the same time._

 _Perfect._

 **R &R?**


	18. Chapter 18: Two Big Reveals

**I was so excited for this story when I first started it, but now I just can't wait to get it done. I'm sure you all can't wait for me to finish it, either. Working on that. Did you know that in the meantime I've completely written** ** _First Year_** **? It's on loose-leaf and in notebooks so I have to type it up, but once I'm finished with this story, you'll be getting First Year updates on a regular basis- maybe once every week or maybe even more often! Trust me, I'm looking forward to that, too.**

Outside of the Great Hall, I found Millie, Shawnee, and Polly leaning against the wall, looking bored. I huffed. "It didn't take me _that_ long to slip out. Where are Lanie, Lynne, and Helen?"

"No, you're fine," Millie assured me.

"They went back in to sign up as entertainment so no one would wonder why none of your roommates signed up," Shawnee explained. "Lanie plays piano, apparently."

"I knew Helen could sing, but I didn't know Lynne was a cellist," Millie chimed back in. "Good for them! I'm sure they'll be wonderful performers."

"Did you find anyone?" I cut them off before they could launch into a discussion about the party.

Millie nodded and gestured around the corner. "Nick and Nathan claim they know where the kitchen is and how to get in and even have friends among the house-elves. Honestly, with those two I wouldn't be surprised."

"We're going to stay here and wait for everyone else," Polly mumbled.

I nodded to her. "Okay. I'll drag the two of them along on my own. Thanks for all of your help, girls!"

They chimed their "You're welcome!"s as I strode down the hallway and went to round the corner. Just as I did so, though, I heard Nick say my name. Pausing- and then making sure no one could see me- I nestled into a small alcove to listen.

"She's _evil_ , mate," Nathan snapped. "It's all a trick. I know Aly a _lot_ better than you do, trust me, and I can tell that she's working for that twat Damien."

"She's _not_ evil," Nick said in the patient tone of someone who had explained something many times over. "She's really on our side. Listen, Nathan, I know you hate her because she broke up with you, but you can't actually believe that she would side with that monster of a Headmaster we've got! He _kills_ people. Do you really think Aly would do that?"

A rush of gratitude for Nick swept over me, and I nearly missed what Nathan replied with.

"Why do you think she wants to know where the kitchens are?"

"To talk to the house-elves."

"Maybe, but only because the house-elves know everything! They'll know who's revolting against her precious Headmaster and who's on their side!" Nathan was adamant in his belief, I could tell. "She'll know just who to murder then. And you can bet we'll be first on the list!"

I couldn't believe Nathan could say such things when it was true, he did know me somewhat better than Nick did. (Notice I said somewhat. No one can go through a terrible first year together like Nick and I did and not get to know one another.) Deciding I could take no more, I popped out of the alcove, rounding the corner in one smooth movement. "Nick. Nathan. I hear you two know where the kitchens are?"

Nathan's mouth was still open, but he had shut up the moment I appeared. Nick answered for the both of them. "Yeah, we used to go there all the time last year after we saw a sixth-year get in. Watch and learn, Aly. You'll like it there."

I followed the boys- Nick happy and cheerful, Nathan still grumbling about something or other- down the corridor and then down one single flight of stairs. We rounded a corner and there, right below the Great Hall, was a corridor I'd passed through a million times on my way to classes. There were no doors in the corridor, just a painting of a bowl of fruit. I frowned. "Are you sure this is the right corridor?"

Nick stopped in front of the painting. "Positive, Aly. We know more than you in this instance. Just accept it." He smirked at me, that old Nick returning briefly to his face, and then reached out to touch the painting. He tickled the pear.

I groaned, but the pear was moving, it was laughing, and it was transforming into a green doorknob! Nick grasped the doorknob- I was still frozen in awe- and pulled open the hidden door. He bowed. "Coming, Aly?"

Nathan went through first, then I followed and Nick brought up the rear. I had never been in the kitchens before. The ceiling was as high as the Great Hall's ceiling- in fact, the whole room kind of looked like the Great Hall, only there were lots of smaller tables scattered around the six big ones that perfectly corresponded to the six in the Great Hall above, and pots and pans were scattered everywhere and the smell of cooking hung in the air. The walls were stone and had racks upon racks of cooking utensils hanging on them, and there was a gigantic fireplace twice the size of the fire pit in the Ravenclaw commons at the other end of the kitchens. Plus, of course, there were about a hundred and fifty house-elves running around.

Nick seemed to have a particular house-elf in mind. After scanning the entire kitchens, he pointed to a small house-elf with a matronly face and a big smile who was washing a pot twice her size. We hurried over, but before we were even halfway to her, he yelled out, "Bekka!"

The house-elf looked up; abandoning her pot, she stepped down off the stool she was standing on and met us halfway. She only came up to my knees and was the tiniest house-elf I had ever seen. "Nicholas!" she chirped in a high, reedy voice, hands on her hips. "He has been eating well? Does he get the chocolate gateau I send up every night?"

"Every night, Bekka," Nick laughed as he crouched down so he could at least somewhat be at her height. "You're going to make me fat someday!"

"Eh, Nicholas could never be fat," dismissed Bekka. She moved her attentions to Nathan. "Nathan! He is a big boy now, yes, has grown so much since the last time he visited poor Bekka! Sit, sit, would he like some apple tart? I know he likes his apple tart."

"Er, no thank you," Nathan said. He looked sort of uncomfortable as he crouched by Nick, leaving me the lone standing person and obviously the tallest in the room.

Bekka disappeared anyway and came back only moments later toting a platter that was probably heavier than she was. On it she carried an entire chocolate gateau and a whole apple tart, as well as silverware, napkins, plates, serving forks, teacups, and a lidless teapot filled with steaming tea. She cut a slice from each and served the gateau to Nick and the tart to Nathan. Apparently they had been coming here long enough that she knew each of their preferences.

Nick turned to me, his mouth full of gateau. "Want anything, Aly?"

"Er," I stammered. "No. Thank you. I'm fine."

Bekka put her hands on her hips and gestured for me to sit. I did so, not crouching like the boys but instead kneeling on the cold stone floor. "No one comes into Bekka's kitchen and doesn't eat. What would she want?"

"I like gateau," I mumbled, reaching for that. "I'll-"

Bekka leaped to her feet, but Nick seized her arm before she could leave. "Bekka, no. Aly doesn't need an entire chocolate cake. She'll just have some of this one."

Bekka speared him with a glare. "Is it my cooking, Nicholas? Does she not like Bekka's cooking?"

"Everyone likes Bekka's cooking," Nick assured her.

It was the right answer. Bekka smiled widely. "What is the girl's name?"

"Alyssa," I introduced myself, sticking out a hand. "Alyssa Salinger. But you can call me Aly."

The instant I said my full name, a hush fell over the kitchens. Bekka's smile was frozen on her face. "Alyssa… Salinger? The girl who follows Damien?"

"Yes, that's me, but it's not like that," I was quick to reassure her. I stood and spoke louder. "In fact, that's why I'm here! I'm not actually part of Damien's regime." _I hope to Rowena that none of these house-elves report back to him._ "I'm part of the rebel movement, working against him. And I wanted to know how he gets the food you all cook with. Is it him or is it you?"

Bekka unfroze and tugged at my pants. "Damien brings us food. Carts of food every week, on the day before classes. Enough to feed Hogwarts until the next cart. House-elves cannot leave. Magic prevents us. He is too strong." She cast a furtive glance around, but everyone was watching us so it was sort of useless to whisper. "Is she really a rebel?"

I nodded in confirmation. "I don't like Damien either."

She whooped in celebration. "There is hope!"

The kitchens burst into cheers and applause. I cast a glance at Nick. "Why don't they like Damien?"

In response, he pointed to a section of the nearby wall. There was a black-and-white picture hanging there of a young male house-elf smiling cheerfully as he cleaned out the fireplace. Decorating the picture was a wreath of interwoven silverware and flowers. "Baxter. I knew him. He was new, and pretty nice. One morning Damien came down here and threw a fit because his favorite kind of muffin wasn't on the breakfast table. Baxter was killed."

"Everyone liked Baxter," Bekka said mournfully. "Now no one likes Damien. And orange zest muffins are always on the table."

The house-elves went back to their work. Except for one. I noticed a darker-skinned elf with small ears sitting against the wall, sharpening a knife. As we left, carrying presents of food heaped upon us by Bekka- lots of chocolate cake for me and Nick, and three apple tarts for Nathan- I saw that particular elf. Watching me.

Nick volunteered to walk me back to Ravenclaw Tower. Nathan headed alone for the Gryffindor common room. After we had been walking for a while, I asked, "Who was that elf sitting alone on the side? Sharpening a knife?"

I had to describe the elf in detail, but soon Nick nodded knowingly. "That's Tadghi. He was Baxter's younger brother. Kind of keeps to himself now that Baxter is gone. Poor elf."

"Yeah," I echoed. "Poor elf." I didn't mention the look that Tadghi had given me. Like it was my fault his brother was dead, and like he was out for revenge.

Lanie was thrilled to hear about Bekka. She was even more thrilled when I relayed the information that the motherly house-elf had told me: carts of food every week on the night before classes (that would be Sunday nights, we guessed), enough to feed all of Hogwarts for a week, and that house-elves couldn't leave. She was even _more_ thrilled to have the chocolate cake. We all sat in a circle on the floor, stuffing our faces with chocolate cake, eating it with our fingers since we didn't have silverware and discussing how Damien got the food.

"Nothing can get through the force field. He must somehow be using the counter-curse," Lanie said thickly through chocolate gateau.

"We'll follow him Sunday night and find out," Lynne suggested cheerfully.

"Not me," Helen argued. "I will be asleep."

"Nor me," Millie said with a yawn. "I'm already tired and it's only Monday night. Imagine what we'll be like next weekend. Probably exhausted."

I glanced to Shawnee, who shrugged. "I'm a heavy sleeper. If you can wake me up Sunday night I'll gladly come along. No promises."

Polly didn't even wait for me to ask. She just shook her head.

"So it's down to me, Aly, Lynne and maybe Shawnee," Lanie murmured. Her statement was punctuated by a yawn between _maybe_ and _Shawnee_. "That sounds like fun. But I say we all get to bed now."

"Sounds like a plan," Helen agreed.

We all stood and went to clean up. As I had an armful of chocolate cake plates- the leftovers spilling onto my arms and robes- Polly leaped to stop me from leaving. "Wait! I have some trash I've been meaning to get rid of. Let me get it and I'll go down to the commons with you."

She disappeared into her area and returned carrying loads of candy wrappers. We headed for the door, but something around Helen's bed tripped her and she fell to the ground with a heavy _thump_. The candy wrappers went everywhere. Lanie and Lynne rushed to help Polly pick them up.

Millie bent down and retrieved something. A box, long and thin. "What's this?" she asked Polly, her tone accusatory.

"What is it?" I asked.

Millie turned the box around so we could see. It was plainly marked _Christmas_.

"Did you get us Christmas gifts and not give them to us?" Helen joked, grabbing for the box.

Polly stood there, blushing bright red. "Give that back, Helen."

Instead, Helen opened the box. "Ooh! Charms!" She held up six silver charms on a string. "Look, there's an _A_ for Aly… two _L_ 's for Lynne and Lanie… an _H_ for me…"

"I said give them back!" Polly snatched for the box but the much taller Helen held them out of her reach.

"Hang on a second," I silenced them. "Why are you throwing these away, Polly?"

"I found them in my trunk but they're not mine," she snapped, still trying to get the box from Helen. The taller girl had turned it into a game of keep-away. She threw the box to Lanie, who opened it to check.

"It _is_ yours, Polly," my friend said. "Look. Two L's, an H, an M, an S, and an A. That's six letters for six presents, and there's no P. Why didn't you give us these for Christmas?"

"It's because she's not Polly."

We all turned to look at Shawnee, except for Polly, who made a dash for the door. I dropped the plates to the floor with a clatter and blocked the tiny girl from leaving, grabbing her arm for good measure.

It did make sense, though. What Shawnee was implying. That someone was disguised as Polly, to spy on my friends, to spy on me. Polly had been so quiet since the deaths of Lindsey, Carter, and Sophie. She hadn't been able to solve the riddle to enter Ravenclaw Tower for months. At the Truth or Dare session, she hadn't been happy to see me, she'd been confused; plus, she had said Lanie was her best friend (kind of strange). All in all, Polly Lider had been a very different person for the last few months.

"I bet the real Polly is the one in the hospital wing with dragon pox," I said, pulling the fake Polly around to face me. "Isn't she?"

With a sigh that was decidedly deeper than Polly's voice could ever go, the fake Polly nodded and then she began to change. She shot up in height until she was taller than me. Her pale skin reddened, but not in a blush- permanently. Her eyes changed to the bright blue I instantly recognized, and his hair went from sandy to bright white.

I was looking at the missing Eli Lupin.

Helen shrieked and hid behind her bedcurtains. I just looked at him. "Eli?"

 _No wonder Polly looked so uncomfortable dancing with Brandon at the ball._

 _No wonder she- er,_ he _\- gifted us something other than what Polly had originally intended._

 _No wonder Damien keeps referring to his spy as a "he". No wonder Eli's been missing. No wonder Katy and Maile asked me if I was with Eli Lupin before the ball._

 _Eli's been here, disguised as Polly, all along._

"You're a Metamorphmagus," Millie accused. "You've been hiding under our noses, spying on us, for who knows how long!"

"Since right before Christmas," Eli allowed, nodding guiltily.

"Creep!" Helen shrieked from where she was hiding. "There's been a _boy_ in our _dorm_! How have you even gotten up the stairs?"

Eli shrugged. "I don't know. I guess if you're disguised as a girl for long enough, the stairs start to think you're a girl. But I have had trouble with the Ravenclaw riddles. How do you six always know the right answer?"

I slapped him. "Not the time, Eli!"

He coughed. "Right."

Lanie just looked interested. "So Damien has been forcing you to spy on us?"

"Mostly you, yes." Eli nodded. "He got a tip in November that Aly wasn't actually on his side, that she was a spy. My Metamorphmagus powers started acting up at the welcome feast, and he noticed it, and he'd been training me, forcing me to get better and better and disguising myself and all-"

"Short version, please?" Shawnee requested, yawning.

"Essentially," Eli summarized, "Madam Pomfrey told him when Polly came down with dragon pox, and so he took the opportunity and made me study up on Polly for a few hours before I joined you guys in class. As her."

"And you've been her ever since?" I questioned.

He pursed his lips and nodded. "I change back for a few minutes when I go to sleep. Something about Metamorphmagus rules, you have to become yourself again or else your powers will fail? I forget. Hey, did you know I'm the most powerful Metamorphmagus in all of Britain now? More powerful than Dad. He's going to get a kick out of this when I go home this summer."

" _If_ you go home this summer," Helen pointed out sleepily.

"I've no doubt I will," Eli said. "With leaders like Lanie and Nick and Aly? We'll be out right in time for summer break."

 **Not the greatest ending, but good enough to keep you satisfied while I write the next chapter, right? You know the drill.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Forbidden Forest

We decided that Eli could stay for one more night, but that he had to go in the morning. Lanie suggested he hide in the Room of Requirement to stay away from Damien's wrath, and everyone agreed that it was the best idea. So the next morning, after waking up to a newly clean carpet (some house-elf had probably cleaned up the plates in the night), Eli disguised himself as Polly one last time and we dropped him off in the Room of Requirement on our way to Charms.

Slowly but surely, the week passed by. The banner-making party was a success, with Peggy writing up nearly two scrolls of parchment with the interview she conducted, and Katy managing to hide the twenty-three banners we made in an abandoned classroom in the dungeons. Rare good news came in the form of miniature chocolate cakes that I was positive Bekka was making sure appeared right in front of my seat for dessert each night. By Merlin's beard, she was amazing. But the more common bad news trumped the cakes. I heard whispers of the disappearance of "Polly" and of the fit that Headmaster Damien threw when he heard about that. I was sure _Have You Seen This Witch?_ posters would appear around school, letting any and all loyal to our strange commander know to keep watch for Polly Lider or Eli Lupin- but no. The walls of Hogwarts remained clear, and the bulletin boards, too.

 _Perhaps Damien just wants to keep the identity of his Metamorphmagus spy safe from everyone who doesn't worship him_ was my last thought Sunday night just before I fell asleep.

Lanie woke me up all too soon. I'd fallen asleep at nine o'clock, and when I glanced at the clock, it was only ten. Technically, I hadn't been supposed to fall asleep, so I was glad Lanie hadn't instead. Since I had fallen asleep fully dressed, it was easy to slip some shoes on, grab my cloak, and creep to the door.

Outside I found only Lanie. I cocked my head. "Er… Shawnee not coming?"

"She's sleeping like a rock," Lanie said with a quiet laugh. "I shook her multiple times and she didn't even stir. It's just like her, too."

"So it's just the two of us." I nodded and followed her down the stairs into the Ravenclaw common room, careful to stay in the shadows and keep my footsteps light.

"Indeed," agreed my friend, hopping over the stair that was known to squeak. I stumbled and was not so lucky, my foot landing squarely in the center. A long, drawn-out _creeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaak_ sliced through the still air. The two of us froze, and I didn't even dare to breathe, but no one came.

As we slipped out of the commons and down the (thankfully stone) spiral staircase, Lanie turned to me with a curious light in her eyes. "I noticed you've been actually sleeping lately instead of having your nightmares! Honestly, I think we're all glad your sleeping patterns are back to normal, after you kicked Helen in the face that one time."

I winced at the memory of Christmas morning. "I didn't mean to do that."

"Oh, I know you didn't," she reassured me, scampering across the hall to a darker corner. "Still, it's no fun to wake up to your screaming in the middle of the night. I'm getting more normal hours of sleep too, now that we know we can't really find the counter-curse in books. Have your grades been going up too?"

I nodded, following her, and then realized she couldn't see me all that well so a nod may not have been the best reply. "Yes, they have. And I'm sure that chair in the commons is much more comfortable now that there aren't Restricted Section books hidden beneath its cushion," I joked.

She tried to hold back her laugh. "I'm sure some exhausted seventh-year is thanking me! Now shh- we don't want to alert anyone that we're out of bed."

Lanie, although short and lithe, would never have been the first person I would've picked to go out on a curfew-breaking late-night outing with; however, she slipped through the dark halls like she was a shadow herself. I, in comparison, was horribly clumsy (although I was generally awkward anyway)- bumping into walls, tripping over my own two feet, catching the toes of my boots on corridor corners. Honestly, I was surprised that I hadn't raised half the castle by the time we reached the doors. It was nearly impossible to exit Hogwarts in any way except going through these doors, so my friends and I had figured that it was a safe bet to assume that Damien would be exiting through them to get to the force field. All we had to do was wait.

The doors were locked, so we couldn't hide outside; instead, we concealed ourselves in the small niches along the walls that so conveniently hid us that I wondered if they'd been placed there solely for our benefit. After all, Hogwarts was always changing. Had it provided us with hiding places? Was even the castle on our side?

Pushing the thought from my mind- it wouldn't do to be distracted by complicated philosophical questions during such an important mission- I settled down in my alcove to wait.

About ten minutes after the many clocks throughout the castle tolled midnight, I was yawning when I heard Lanie hiss, "Aly- shhh! I hear footsteps!"

Sure enough, it was Headmaster Damien. In the darkness that my eyes had pretty well adjusted to, I watched his cloaked, broad-shouldered, messy-haired silhouette rush by my nook, unlock the doors, and slip through them.

We let the doors close behind him before we hurried from our spots. Lanie pushed at the handle of the door Damien had gone through, and it opened.

The cool night air was like a bucket of ice to the face, and a chill shuddered through my bones. I pulled my cloak, thin though it was, around my shoulders. "Maybe February was not the best time to figure this out?"

"Oh, sure," Lanie murmured sarcastically. "Let me just pull out my Time-Turner and go on back to September to warn you. Sure. I can _totally_ do that."

"But you don't have a Time-Turner," I pointed out dumbly.

Lanie snorted. "Aly, you're so clueless."

It was then that I understood the sass from her previous remark, and instead of embarrassing myself further, I shut up.

The commander was a disappearing shadow in the night by then, hurrying along the path beneath us, so Lanie closed her mouth too and we followed silently. Down past the greenhouses, across the lawns that had grown so wild in the past months, and into the Forbidden Forest we scurried. After a while, I realized that I had stopped following the shadow and started following Lanie. I stopped short. "Where's Damien?"

Lanie squinted. "No idea. I have terrible vision. Oh- something just moved!" She pointed just ahead of us, to our one o'clock, and without knowing if we were chasing Damien or some frightening forest animal- who knew what lived in here?- we set off in that direction.

I was growing aware that we were approaching the border, and therefore needed to be more careful with where we stepped, when a low and gruff voice cut through the night.

"My suppliers are growing concerned, Damien," it said. "This needs to be ended. Soon."

"I can't end anything," Damien's voice responded.

"Can't or won't?"

"I'm a _king_ , Julian! They all _love_ me!"

"And what about the people you've killed? What's your death count now? Ten? Fifteen?"

" _Eleven_ ," Damien snapped. "If I wanted to end this, I could wipe everyone's memories and pretend some big accident happened. But I _don't_ want to."

The other man- Julian- sighed. "Four months, mate. I can keep feeding your bedamned school until June. But then you have to find someone else to supply you. Doesn't help that you keep throwing feasts and celebrations, either."

Damien's voice grew dangerously sharp and low. "Need I remind you that you owe me your _life_?"

"Yeah, which'll _end_ if the Ministry catches me," Julian said shortly. "I've already told you that they're working on a counter-curse after those parents started complaining and they came to investigate."

"It's not my fault that three of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad members are so incompetent that they can't recognize a proper border curse," Damien mumbled, so quiet I almost couldn't hear him.

"But it _is_ your fault that they're dead."

Damien made a sound- _did he just spit?_ "Hand over the food and get out, Julian." He sounded strained.

There was another noise- Damien murmuring something. This time it was too quiet to hear, but neither man spoke again.

Lanie and I peered out from behind the tree to vaguely see two men, dimly lit by a light that was bobbing away in the opposite direction. One man, with dark close-cropped hair and matching skin, was trudging away on the other side of the border, holding the torch that was the source of the light; the other was Damien, and he was heading toward us, levitating a bag in the air with his wand. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to need a light- could he see in the semi-darkness or did he just know this part of the forest well enough to navigate without help? I guessed the second as he hopped over logs and swerved around trees seemingly without a thought.

Lanie, beside me, moved to follow. And stepped on a twig.

The _crack_ was ridiculously loud in the quiet woods. Damien, now just a silhouette in the dark, whirled around. "Who's there?" he demanded.

Lanie and I both froze still as statues. I didn't even dare to breathe.

The silhouette of Damien grew larger as he approached our hiding spot. "Show yourself," he ordered.

I caught Lanie's glinting eyes in the darkness and pressed a hand somewhat forcefully to her shoulder, hoping she would get my drift and stay down. Just as I shifted my weight to my heels in preparation to stand, with no idea what lie I would tell him, another _crack_ sounded from behind Damien. The Headmaster whirled around. "I said, show yourself!"

He clomped off in the direction of the second _crack._

Lanie and I breathed twin sighs of relief when he had vanished into the gloom. Then, without saying anything more, we stood in unison and ran for the castle.

Only once we had slipped through the doors did either of us speak. Lanie opened her mouth first. "I thought we were goners back there."

A wry chuckle escaped my lips, even though my heart was still pounding. You could either be scared to death of a near miss with death, or you could laugh at it. I chose the latter. "Me too. Thank god for whatever made that second crack."

"You're welcome," said a deep female voice from the shadows to my right.

I couldn't help it- I shrieked a little and jumped. Lanie just peered into the shadows, then laughed quietly. "Good ol' Shawnee! I should've known you were faking being asleep." She reached into the shadowy niche and pulled Shawnee out by the arm, enveloping her best friend in a grateful hug. "We owe you our lives."

"I know," Shawnee grumbled as she extracted herself from Lanie's thankful arms. "I figured Aly would be her clumsy self and make some sort of noise, then be unable to come up with a lie on the spot if you were caught. So when you woke me up, I followed you so you didn't have to get caught at all."

"Hey!" I protested, my heart still pattering in my chest from the combination of our near capture and Shawnee's jump-scare.

"Actually, _I_ was the one to step on a twig," Lanie allowed graciously as we began to move back to Ravenclaw Tower.

Shawnee arched one thick eyebrow in the moonlight. Then she smirked. "Of course."

Despite the late hour, despite the danger we were still in, the three of us laughed all the way back to our dormitory.

 **Sorry I took so long to update, guys, I've been in Europe with no internet. My original plan for this story was to have it end up 22 chapters long, just like its predecessor, Fifth Year. However, I think it might end up 24 or 25 chapters long just because we haven't gotten to much action yet. Don't worry, I'm hurrying! I promise the next chapter will be more action-packed. And possibly sad. You know the drill- review, please?**

 **~atrfla**


	20. Chapter 20: Damien Day

**Okay, so I lied about publishing a lot over the summer. Sorry about that. Maybe a long chapter will make it up to you?**

Three weeks nearly flashed by. Each Sunday night, at eleven-thirty since we knew Damien went out at midnight, Lanie, Shawnee and I snuck out and hid in the entrance corridor he used to get to the Forbidden Forest. Headmaster Damien's friend- Julian, we'd heard him be called- grew increasingly worried about his 'suppliers', but each time Damien was able to placate him and convince him to bring more food the following week. Also each week, we strained to hear the counter-curse Damien whispered to Vanish a part of the barrier. One week Shawnee was sure she'd heard _Turbo Silencio_ , the next week I was one hundred percent positive that the commander had said _Furrowless Sando_.

Finally it was February 28th- the Sunday before the celebration, which was set for the following Friday. Lanie, Shawnee and I trudged back to Ravenclaw Tower after yet another unsuccessful night of listening to Julian gripe about how at least he didn't have to worry about supplying enough food for Damien's 'blasted birthday party' after that night.

"Maybe we can sneak out to the barrier tomorrow during a free period and try out all of the different spells we've been hearing?" Lanie suggested softly.

"If Aly's right, and the counter-curse is just two counter-curses mixed together, we could decide which counter-curse that we think we've heard sounds the most like the counter-curse you found in the book," Shawnee mused. "What was it? _Termino_ something?"

" _Terminus Abolescus_ ," I chimed in.

All Shawnee needed was a reminder of the counter-curse, and I could hear her mumbling " _Terminus Abolescus. Termino Abole… Terminus…_ " over and over across the room as I got into bed ten minutes later. It was a rhythmic murmur that eventually lulled me into a dreamless sleep. At least _one_ of my New Year's wishes had worked out pretty nicely.

Friday came quicker than expected. All classes were canceled that day, and I organized all thirty of my fellow Damien-followers to wake up two hours before breakfast so we could decorate the Great Hall. Three of them- a sixth-year Hufflepuff, a third-year Gryffindor, and Sara- slept in a little late, so while I sent Sami, Lachlan and Katy to retrieve them, the other twenty-five of us hoisted banners into place and threw streamers around the Hall.

There were some issues.

For one, Eve-Charlotte was having a field day with the streamers. She wove some of them into a bright carrot-colored crown, which clashed horribly with her red hair when she placed it atop her head and crowned herself Queen of Streamers. Five minutes later, she was tying streamers around Peggy like an old-fashioned mummy, inhibiting my fellow Ravenclaw girl's ability to walk, talk, or really do anything except for fall flat on her face. Who knew that flirty, sly Eve-Charlotte liked streamers so much? I'd always known that Eve-Charlotte acted catlike, but this was just going too far.

For another, three of the banners had been painted over with _Eat Dung_ instead of _Happy Birthday_ , making each of them read _Eat Dung, Commander Damien._ I stifled a smile when I noticed, because I had a pretty good idea of who had done it. Maile, on the other hand, pitched a fit.

"Now the banners won't be symmetrical!" she wailed. "We don't know how to remove the paint, and there's no time to make more!"

Finally, two seventh-year Slytherins- the two who had levitated the corpses of Carter, Sophie, and Lindsey in the month of November so long ago- managed to make the banners' graffiti disappear, therefore calming Maile, and I managed to get Eve-Charlotte under control.

Commander Damien was a _very_ good actor, as he proved when he walked into the Great Hall for breakfast that morning to find all students sitting in a festive room and clapped a hand to his chest. "Why, how did you all know that it was my birthday?"

I stood and easily lied, "It was in some old yearbooks, Commander. I made the decision to celebrate this momentous day, your first birthday as our great and powerful leader." The lie came easier than most of my other untruths had this year, meaning it didn't taste like ash in my mouth. "Do you like the decorations? Katy and Maile-" I gestured to my two Slytherin friends- "were in charge of making the banners, and Peggy-" I pointed to the girl who had been wrapped up like a Christmas present just an hour before- "distracted you while we created them."

Headmaster Damien clapped his hands like a four-year-old instead of a thirty-nine-year-old. "Excellent work, my dearest protégé! I expect you are looking forward to the day when your school shall throw _you_ a gigantic birthday party…" He grinned. "But today is all about me!"

With a few large, bounding steps and a huge leap, he crashed into his chair, put his feet up onto the table, and smiled that toothy hunter's smile. "Let my birthday begin!"

As if by- well, magic- food appeared on the tables. I noticed lots of orange-flavored food on each of the tables- orange zest muffins, orange pastries, orange puffs with cranberries or cinnamon, and even orange juice. I smiled (although I'm sure my grin wasn't as predatory as my Headmaster's behind me). _Good! The note I left out for Bekka in the common room on Wednesday got delivered to her, and she made sure to make extra-orangey foods for breakfast. I can't wait to see what she comes up with for lunch._

The orange-and-cranberry pastries were really very good, and I found myself scoffing down four of them before deciding that I would burst if I ate another bite. As it was, I wrapped up two of them and stuck them in my schoolbag, which I'd taken with me to breakfast out of habit. _Oops._

When all of the food had disappeared from the tables, I turned around to find Headmaster Damien raising an eyebrow at me. "So, Alyssa," he boomed. "What fabulous entertainment do you have planned for my birthday? I'm sure you've gathered together _some_ form of amusement?"

I consulted a list. Easily a hundred and fifty students had signed up to entertain our leader, possibly hoping they could gain some favor with him and not be killed next time he went on a rampage. It was a good strategy, but that many entertainers could easily mean we'd all be here until after lunch. "Yes, Commander, I have. First is your captain Katy, reciting a poem she wrote for you called…"

"It's called _The Life and Times of our Most Glorious Headmaster and Commander, The First True Leader of Hogwarts, His Honor Sir Damien Kayash,_ " Katy interrupted, springing up from her chair and producing her own scroll of parchment. She cleared her throat. "Here goes:

 _Our Glorious Headmaster Kayash was born_

 _On a cold March day in the town of Lisburn;_

 _Little did his mother and father know_

 _That he would be illustrious and famous when grown._

 _At Hogwarts he was a Slytherin, the best House of all,_

 _'_ _Til he finally made the old Hogwarts regime fall._

 _Now he's our leader, great and true,_

 _Happy birthday, Commander Damien, we wish to you._ "

"Wow," Peggy mumbled to me as Katy reclaimed her seat. "The title was almost as long as the poem itself."

I stifled a giggle before moving on to the next name on the list. All of the Damien-followers went first- Finley challenged Headmaster Damien to a game of Gobstones, since he led the club; Lachlan did a funny sort of Scottish dance; Sara sang a song she'd composed in our leader's honor. Only six Damien-followers, myself included, performed no entertainment for our illustrious Headmaster. I'd felt that it was all right to leave my name off the list, since I had no particular talents- the only dancing I could even manage to do was either wild or crazy or ballroom dancing, and my singing voice sounded like a frog's croak- and I'd organized the entire party anyway.

Once Sami had presented some sort of Muggle magic, where she Vanished objects and reappeared them without actually using magic, all of the Damien-followers had gone, and I started to call names of normal people. Some were even rebels. Two Hufflepuff first-years told jokes that had Headmaster Damien roaring with laughter, Lynne played the cello so beautifully- although where had she gotten the cello?- that the commander was nearly in tears, and all seven of the Gryffindor seventh-year girls did some kind of tumbling routine that was so impressive that they had the entire Great Hall up on their feet and clapping by the time it was only halfway finished.

I was wrong- we finished with all of the acts just before lunch, and once we had eaten orange chicken stir-fry and salads with orange vinaigrette, it was time for my greatest surprise. I'd been planning this since the very moment that I had read in an old yearbook in preparation for the celebration that Damien Kayash had been the first student ever to not only catch the giant squid of the lake, but to release it because he "just liked fishing". It had taken me ages to figure out how to get fish into the lake. Eventually I just asked for live fish from Julian in one of the many lists I provided Damien, and although Damien's friend had grumbled about transporting 50 live fish as well as worms for bait into Hogwarts two weeks prior, he'd done it. Somehow. A particularly brave Lea had donned a swimsuit and jumped into the freezing cold water of the lake to ask the creatures that lived in it if they could keep the fish close to the surface for the celebration, when boats appeared on the water. The mermaids didn't seem particularly helpful, but a few kind sea serpents agreed to the task. Lea had been fished out of the lake with a cut on her forehead from the mermaids, but she had been grinning.

Just like that day, the water had a terrible chill to it, so no one risked sitting close enough to the lake on the shore to get splashed by it. Instead, half of the teachers, all of the Damien-followers (excluding me), and the commander himself crowded into the tiny boats used to transport first-years across the lake on September 1st each year. Each student offered up a possession that they didn't particularly care about to Professor Descoteaux, who Transfigured it each item into a fishing rod. (The teachers did theirs themselves.)

I was there to send off the boats, and as I pushed each one off from shore with the help of my dorm-mates, I smiled fondly at Headmaster Damien. His line was already into the water, and he was grinning from ear to ear like an innocent child. It was the most excited I'd ever seen him, and the most _human_ I'd seen him be all year. It made me sort of like him. Our Commander wasn't totally evil. There was still some good left in him, in the innocent things, like fishing.

Finley had just hooked the first fish- there were 5 different species of fish, and the Slytherin seventh-year caught the first trout- when Lanie, Shawnee, Millie, Helen, Lynne and I turned and went back inside. Polly was still in the hospital wing, as far as I knew. I hoped desperately that she hadn't died, whether at the hands of Damien or due to the dragon pox. Polly had never been quite as strong or healthy as the rest of us even without catching one of the Wizarding world's most terrible diseases.

"We really ought to start studying for exams," Millie sighed as we trudged back up to the common room. "It's early March- during a normal year we'd be preparing by now."

Helen spoke the obvious. "It isn't a normal year, Millie."

Our dark-haired friend nodded. "Well, yes, I know that… but I just think we ought to take Cadogan's pony and do the best we can."

I laughed quietly. The Wizarding saying _I'll take Cadogan's pony_ meant to salvage the best you could out of a bad situation, and it kind of perfectly described this year at Hogwarts.

In the fairly empty common room, we chose a clump of armchairs and rearranged them so we could all sit in a circle. Millie and Helen took turns throwing minor curses like the Disarming Charm at Lynne, who practiced deflecting them with a Shield Charm. Lanie hunched over her copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger, testing herself on the ingredients of a Wit-Sharpening Potion. Shawnee dipped the quill Polly-Eli had given her for Christmas- a short, fat dark red feather- into a pot of Lanie's ink and began to scrawl out the assignment that Professor Maduthy had assigned us on the previous Monday, a theoretical essay on why we thought unicorns were only attracted to females.

That left just me. Professor Descoteaux had left us only one piece of homework the day before, and that was to practice the Doubling Charm. Flicking my wand at the scrap of parchment hanging out of Lynne's bag, I said clearly, " _Geminio_."

Nothing happened.

I tried again. " _Geminio._ "

Still nothing.

Frustrated, I leveled my wand at the paper and basically yelled, " _Geminio!_ "

Just then, a loud burst of laughter startled us all, making us jump in our seats. Helen had cast a Tickling Charm that had soared right past Lynne's fragile Shield Charm, shattering it to pieces, and hit our French friend square in the chest. Lynne was now convulsing with giggles, thrashing about on her armchair helplessly.

My wand flicked up as the last bit of the word _Geminio_ left my mouth. The curse soared toward the chandelier and hit the tip of its iron frame.

Suddenly there were two chandeliers above us- but only one was connected to the ceiling. As if in slow motion, my chandelier spiraled toward Helen, who had leapt up to administer the counter-spell to Lynne.

I squeezed my eyes tight, completely useless.

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ "

There was no crash of glass against floor, no scream as Helen was trapped underneath the light fixture. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find Zach grinning down at me, holding his wand out at the chandelier, which was floating in midair a foot above Helen's head.

"Aly, what have we told you about killing friends?"

"We kind of meant on the Quidditch pitch," Reuben's nasally accent joined in as the American boy stepped out from behind Zach, "but really, a falling chandelier? How tacky."

"Boys," reprimanded Kitty, who was sitting on the other side of the room, "don't tease her. It was an innocent mistake."

Zach ruffled my hair anyway and, with a flick of his wand, Vanished the chandelier. "Nice spellwork, though. Have you managed to talk to Damien about Quidditch?"

I slapped a palm against my forehead. "No. I'll see if I can bring it up today after supper. With luck, next year we'll be able to play Quidditch again!"

"With luck, next year I won't be here," Zach grunted.

Then Reuben tugged him away, saying, "Come on, mate, we have to study for N.E.W.T.S!"

Zach's words echoed in my ears for hours until supper.

 _With luck, next year I won't be here._

Why had I assumed so quickly that we _would_ be here next year? Was I giving up, giving _in_ to Damien's rule?

That was haunting me even at the beginning of supper, when foods like spinach and orange couscous and orangey pasta appeared on the table. I had barely taken my first bite when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

Zach, that idiot, had stood.

"Hey, Headmaster!" he called up to the table behind me.

Instantly, all clinks of silverware against plates and all friendly chatter between the two high tables stopped.

"What is it, Mr. Henson?" growled Commander Damien from behind us.

Zach cleared his throat and plastered an obviously fake smile upon his face. "I just wanted to say, on behalf of all of the students here… happy birthday."

I turned to see Damien's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Well, I'm glad you're finally conforming to-"

"I wonder, how does it feel," Zach interrupted, "to know you'll never make it to forty?"

With that, there was an uproar. Headmaster Damien stood, but all of the students sitting at the regular tables had already jumped to their feet and were running from the Hall. I squeezed my hands into fists at my side. What was happening? Had Lanie planned another revolution? Why was everyone _leaving?_ They knew they couldn't make it past the barrier!

"Have fun running a dictatorship," yelled a voice from the crowd, "when you've got no students to rule over!"

It was Zach again. Did he just not know when to quit?

" _Avada Kedavra!_ " roared Headmaster Damien.

A bolt of green light flew into the crowd, and I jumped to standing. A body thudded to the ground, but in the crush of fleeing students, I couldn't see who it was.

And then they were all gone.

Every student, from the tiniest of first years to the tallest of seventh-years, had vanished out the doors.

 _What did Zach mean- have fun running a dictatorship when you've got no students to rule over?_

Were they all going to run to the barrier?

Were they all going to _die?_

I poised myself to run after my fellow students, to scream and yell and stop them from dying, but for the second time that day a laugh startled me. Only this time, it was Damien.

The Commander laughed maniacally, his cackling echoing through the silent Great Hall, as he stood over the dead body of Zachary Henson. "You've annoyed me for far too long, boy," he crowed with delight. "Ah, that felt good."

My knees went weak. _No._

Not Zach, whose first interaction with me had been a grunt during tryouts my second year.

Not Zach, who had turned out to be the sweetest guy, and had been like an older brother to me.

Not Zach, whose little sister Annie would be devastated to learn he was gone.

Not Zach, whom everyone knew would probably end up marrying Kitty someday.

Not Zach, the Keeper-turned-Chaser who had been the glue of the entire team last year.

Not Zach, who only hours before had been laughing and joking with me.

"No," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Not Zach…"

Damien turned his icy eyes on the forty-one of us Damien-followers. Throughout the past month, our numbers had steadily increased from thirty-one to forty-one as we added two new Gryffindors, three new Slytherins, two new Hufflepuffs and three new Ravenclaws to our ranks. Even though there were more of us, though, most of us still looked petrified by that stare.

"What are you waiting for?" he roared at us. " _Go find them!_ "

"Of course, Commander!" Around me my fellow Damien-lackeys scrambled from their chairs and ran off into the dark corridors of Hogwarts. I heard the five captains shouting orders. "Peggy's team, dungeons and ground floor!" "Finley's team, third and fourth floors!" "Katy's team, towers!"

I did not follow. Instead, while Headmaster Damien escorted all of the teachers out, I stepped off the dais and crossed to Zach's fallen body. He was smiling peacefully, teeth white against golden-brown skin, his shaggy blond hair falling over his wide-open blue eyes.

I brushed my fingertips over his eyelids, and they slid closed.

"Good-bye, Zach," I murmured, choking back a sob. Then I stepped back and pointed my wand, swished, and flicked. " _Wingardium L-Leviosa._ "

Despite my hiccup, the spell worked, and Zach's body floated into the air.

Out to the gardens I carried him. The doors were still unlocked from the fishing expedition, so it was quite easy to get out there. On the lawn, I found a forget-me-not plant covered in tiny blue buds, and I dug out a small plot in front of it with my wand, then lowered Zach into it and covered him up. There were plenty of stones nearby, so in absence of a real headstone I took one and painstakingly carved into it with my wand.

 _Zachary Henson, Ravenclaw. Born June 11 2026, died March 4 2044. Beloved son, brother, Keeper, and friend._

I paused a moment, then added one of my favorite Albus Dumbledore quotes from the history books.

 _It is our choices that show what we truly are._

It was not nearly strong enough of an eulogy to contain Zach's personality, his bravery, his intelligence, his wit; but it would have to do until we could transfer him to a more appropriate resting place and a better grave.

I let a single tear drip down my cheek. I had to show Annie her brother's temporary resting place. But in order to show Annie, I had to find her- and the rest of the missing students- first.

 _I wasn't alerted about this plan_ , I thought. _They don't want anyone to know where they are. But why? Do they think I'll rat them out to Damien? I bet it was Nathan._

I stood, casting one more look at Zach's grave before I went back inside and headed toward the Great Hall.

 _There's only one person who will know exactly where everyone went._

I turned down a corridor and waited for a staircase to make its way toward me.

 _Er, well, I shouldn't say_ person, _should I?_

Bekka somehow knew I was coming, because she was waiting for me just inside the entrance to the kitchens with a cold slice of chocolate gateau. As I ate, she watched me with a detached air, as if she was physically there but mentally she was somewhere else, in the company of someone else.

She did not answer my question until I had cleaned the last lick of crumbs from the plate. Even with me sitting and her standing, she was still shorter than me. Only when I had completely finished her creation, in her high and squeaky voice, she whispered, "Hogwarts has a secret store of food. Able to feed all of Hogwarts for a month, perhaps two if Bekka rations. Bekka can feed them, Bekka can hide them, but not for long."

I knew she wasn't quite ready to tell me, but I asked again anyway. "Where are they, Bekka? Where are my friends?"

She reached up and rested a slim, tiny brown hand on my cheek. "Alyssa must save them. Alyssa must break the spell and free them."

Her motherly softness made tears well up in my eyes. "What if I can't, Bekka? What if I fail and I can't save them or break the spell? What if I have to pretend I adore Damien Kayash for the rest of my life? What if I'm forced to marry Finley Denton and praise a cruel dictator for who knows how long?" I choked back a sob. "I can't _do_ that, Bekka. I'm just not strong enough."

Bekka reached up, and with one knobby finger, she wiped the tears from my face. "Alyssa is not strong," she agreed warmly. "That is Nicholas's job. But Alyssa is smart and clever. She can save Nicholas and Nathan and all the rest, and she _will_ free them. Alyssa will not fail."

Another elf approached carrying a pot of steaming tea and a mug. Bekka poured me a mug of tea- it was mint, which I neither hated nor loved- and I sipped at it gratefully. Tears splashed from my chin into the tea, adding a slightly salty tang to the liquid.

"Bekka knows it only as the Come-and-Go Room," Bekka said finally. "But when Nicholas told Bekka his plan, he called it the Room of-"

 _The Room of Requirement._

 _Of course._

I swept Bekka up into a hug as I leapt to my feet, interrupting the rest of her sentence. "Thank you Bekka, I have to go make sure the patrols don't get in. I'll come visit again soon, I promise!"

I set the tiny house-elf down and dashed off through the secret door as she called after me, "Bekka will be waiting with chocolate gateau when Alyssa returns!"

Eve-Charlotte and her group of seven arrived on the seventh floor at about the same time I did. Eve-Charlotte, picture-perfect as ever, raised a slim red eyebrow. "Aly? Where have you _been?_ "

"I've been checking on the other groups," I lied, trying to conceal my panting from my mad dash up from the kitchens. "I take it you haven't found the runaways?"

Eve-Charlotte's dark blue eyes darkened. "No. But they can't hide forever. While you were dumping the body of that rebel somewhere or other, Damien gave us some new orders. We can now kill rebels on sight. I assume this means we'll start learning Unforgivable Curses in classes next week, and we'd best enjoy this coming weekend while we can because once we know how to kill and maim we'll be searching during all of our free time."

"You know it," muttered one of her lackeys.

I winced with the excitement and hate I saw in Eve-Charlotte's beautiful face. "What about, I don't know…" I searched for a lighter topic, something, _anything._ "Sleeping arrangements? Surely the rebels won't return to their House dormitories to sleep, and forty-one of us scattered across eight dormitories with seven rooms each doesn't sound too fun."

Eve-Charlotte brightened. "You're right, Aly! I say we gather everyone in the Great Hall at, say-"

"Eight," I suggested firmly. "You four-" I pointed at the four closest of Eve-Charlotte's team- Lachlan, a Gryffindor third-year girl, a Ravenclaw fifth-year boy and a Slytherin second-year girl that I recognized as a friend of Sara's- "go find the leaders of the other four teams and tell them to meet in the Great Hall at eight o'clock on my orders."

 _If I can get all of Eve-Charlotte's team off this floor, I can easily distract Eve-Charlotte herself and get into the Room of Requirement_.

The four I'd gestured to scurried off, and I pointed to the remaining three. "Did you check the… er… fifth-floor hospital tower corridor?"

One of them, a little blond Gryffindor boy who couldn't be older than a second-year, shook his head. "It's a tower. Katy's team has towers," he said with the air of repeating something for the trillionth time to someone completely stupid.

I glared down my nose at him until he looked properly cowed. "You are _not_ to speak to me that way," I snapped, channeling my mother as best I could. "Or else I'll suggest you to Professor Damien as practice for those Unforgivable Curses Eve-Charlotte was talking about just a moment ago."

Eve-Charlotte, probably against her will, looked impressed.

The boy blanched. "I'll… go… check that… then." He power-sprinted away.

I turned to the other two, a Slytherin boy and a Gryffindor girl of about Eve-Charlotte's age, but at that moment they both seemed to remember places that they had forgotten to check. They bounded away after the boy, and Eve-Charlotte trailed away behind them.

"Where are you going?" I called after her. "The seventh floor is still unsearched!"

She half-turned and wouldn't look directly at me. "My whole team is now off doing other things. When they're done, _then_ we'll search the seventh floor."

I tried my best to look crestfallen. "Oh. Okay. I was going to help you search, but I guess I'll just go help… Katy's team… get into Ravenclaw Tower or… something."

She smiled a little. "See you at eight, Aly."

I waited until she was definitely gone, then I pretended to search around the seventh-floor corridor for another five minutes in case I was being watched before I slipped into the Room of Requirement.

Unsurprisingly, there were screams when I opened the door and stepped in. A Stunning Spell slammed into me from the side, and I crumpled to the floor, helpless. The door closed behind me, and out of the corner of my vision I saw another spell, red as well, arc toward me.

A flash of scarlet light burst in front of me as I regained control of my limbs. Two pairs of arms pulled me to my feet, and three faces grinned at me- Brooklyn, Lanie, and Nick.

Brooklyn and Lanie helped me regain my balance as Nick dispelled his Shield Charm. "This is Alyssa Salinger," he announced to terrified faces. "And she's on our side."

"No, she's not!" someone screamed out. It was Nellie, who was hugging Annie Henson along with Raj and Sunny. "Because of her, Annie's brother is _dead!_ "

I approached the four second-years, hands out in a peaceful, placating gesture. In an instant, Raj was up and he threw a punch that glanced off of my cheekbone. Pain burst on my cheek and I clutched it in discomfort.

"Get away from her!" Raj yelled in my face, shoving me away. (He was so small and slight that I didn't even stumble.) "You've done quite enough already, Aly!"

His face was streaked with tears, although not so much as Annie's. I reached out to wipe one away and was able to duck the resulting punch.

"Annie," I said instead, focusing my attention on Zach's sister. Raj stilled in front of me, still on the defense, and Annie sniffled, pushing a strand of her dirty blonde hair from her face. "Zach didn't deserve to die. He was a revolutionary, and casualties _do_ happen during revolutions. I'm so sorry."

I realized too late that the words may have sounded insensitive, but Annie reacted to them positively. She smiled a wan, tearful smile up at me. "Are you a spy?"

Nodding, I agreed, "And I have been since day one."

A thoughtful expression crossed her face that was so much like Zach's, and everyone was silent for a few moments- almost as if they were going through each of my actions from all year, trying to see if I was indeed telling the truth- before Raj broke into a wide grin. Seeing his trademark toothy smile made relief wash over me in great waves of emotion. "It's true! You _are_ on our side!" he cried, grabbing me in a quick side hug. He was so short that his face only went into my shoulder. "I can't believe we didn't see it before. You're trying to save everyone!"

I nodded, then moved to kneel beside Annie, Nellie, and Sunny. This time, Raj let me pass, although Nellie didn't look too thrilled. "I couldn't save Zach. I'm sorry, Annie. But I've buried him in the gardens, under a bunch of forget-me-nots. When I figure out how to get rid of the barrier, and Damien is in a cell in Azkaban for crimes against wizardkind, we can move him to somewhere more appropriate. Do you have a family plot?"

Annie sniffled and shook her head, then added, "Zach loved Hogwarts. He would-" Her voice broke. "He _would've_ wanted to be buried here."

"Ash too," Nellie chimed in, looking me straight in the face. Her eyes were darker than her brother's had been, both in color and in demeanor, and I was shocked by the hardness I found there. Nellie was such a sweet little thing. Where had she learned such anger? "Where _is_ Ash, anyway? Have you buried him too, or is he just rotting somewhere?"

I closed my eyes. I hated to do this, but I couldn't very well lie. She would want to see his grave, or otherwise see proof of it. "As far as I know, only Zach has been buried. I have yet to find the bodies of Arthur, Sophie, Lisa, Margaret, Vincent, Liana, Lindsey, Ash, Carter, Alexei and Camellia."

There was an instant uproar. Two second-year Gryffindor boys, no doubt Alexei's friends, shouted at me that Alexei deserved a real resting place. Austin and Tommy Wood were standing, racked with sobs, as they begged me to find their dead younger brother. Even Lyndsay, who had been rather quiet in the two months since her brother's death, appeared at my side mumbling about Vince's corpse turning into a skeleton.

I raised my hands. "I'm sorry," I pleaded, and most of the hundreds of students in the spacious room quieted. Two Hufflepuff first-years- I vaguely remembered them as Thaddeus and Lionel from the Sorting, although I had no idea what their last names were- huddled together near me, clutching each other fearfully. "I have a meeting scheduled at eight o'clock-" by the clock on the wall, that was coming up in only an hour- "but I promise that after that, I will go out and search for your dead. I will not sleep tonight until I have found them, and I will bury them all tomorrow."

Nick took my arm then among satisfied whispers and the odd cheer, and he guided me towards an eerily empty corner, pulling me behind some sort of divider. Chatter resumed at a normal volume throughout the room, and the Gryffindor boy- who was quite obviously one of if not _the_ self-proclaimed leader of the student body- seized my shoulders. "Aly, what are you doing here? They must be looking for us, and if they find you here- actually, for that matter, how did you _find_ us?"

I saw real fear in his eyes and almost laughed deliriously from exhaustion. He was not afraid _of_ me, he was not afraid _for_ me- he must have been afraid for himself, _yes_ , that was it. "Bekka. I asked Bekka. And don't worry, I led them away from you. You'll all be safe here."

For a moment he looked uncertain, but then the fear melted from his eyes and he gathered me up into a strong, warm hug. "We'd all be dead thrice over without you, Aly, you know that?"

I froze for a second before melting into his friendly embrace. "Yeah. And you better remember it, Justice."

 **Now that I'm back in school, I have quite a bit more motivation to get this done before the workload really starts piling up. I'm about halfway through Chapter 21, and I have the rest of the storyline completely mapped out. I thank you guys for your patience! Please R &R!**


	21. Chapter 21: Detention

**Wow! Two chapters published so close together- it's a miracle for me, right? Well, I have some good news for you. Chapter 22 is also all written up (and it's a good one), but it's on looseleaf paper. As soon as I can type it up, it'll get published for you all to read! We're nearing the climax of the story and then the ending, and I'm getting really excited!**

The bodies of my fallen comrades, as I discovered that night, were being stored in one of the deepest unused dungeons of Hogwarts. I buried all of the dead students beside Zach and brought tales of the flowers on their graves to grieving family and friends. Chrysanthemums for Art (Nellie said they had been his favorite flower), orchids for Vince at Lyndsay's request, and marigolds for Margaret (my own idea), to name a few.

It was more difficult than I had expected to creep out early in the morning to bury them, for although the Ravenclaw dormitories were nearly empty- only eight students, four boys and four girls, inhabited them- I was now sharing a room with three other girls, none of whom were friendly to the rebel cause. Peggy had seniority, so the two third-year Ravenclaw girls who followed Damien and I moved into her dorm. Peggy's bed was by the window, so I took one across from her and the two third-years- Liv and Wijida- claimed sleeping areas by the door. Liv and Jida, as the latter liked to be called, were both extremely light sleepers. Luckily, they both adored me, so when I was caught sneaking out by the pair of friends, I was able to escape by claiming I had an early meeting with Commander Damien.

I did, in fact, end up having a meeting with him two days later, in which he confirmed the rumor that we would be learning curses, Unforgivable and more, in our classes from that moment on.

And the curses we learned? They were terrifying.

We learned Dark curses like the Blasting Curse, the Disintegration Curse, and the Entrail-Expelling Curse. We learned curses of Headmaster Damien's own invention, like the Amputation Curse and the Scalping Curse, which were horrifying enough. But the worst of the lot were definitely the three Unforgivable Curses.

All who still attended classes were split up into three groups. First- and second-years learned together, no matter what House; it was the same for the third-through-fifth years and the sixth- and seventh-years. My class- years 3, 4, and 5- had the good luck to learn the curses in order. We began with the Imperius Curse, practicing on one of the house-elves from the kitchens. I made an apologetic face to the elf, a tiny creature with small ears and pasty skin, before forcing him to perform a cartwheel and a somersault. Eve-Charlotte excelled at the Imperius Curse, able to keep her hold on the house-elf long after the rest of our class broke off. She was beaten only by Maile's skill. The fashionistas practiced on a willing Liv all the way to our next class.

There, we learned the Cruciatus Curse, which Sami loved. I was less energetic due to the fact that we practiced on pets that the students who were now hiding in the Room of Requirement had left behind. Most of the cats and toads had had the good sense to go into hiding in the many nooks and crannies of our gigantic school, but the owls- stupidly loyal, loving creatures- had stuck around the Owlery, hooting loudly for their masters. I recognized Lanie's fluffy snowy owl, Amadeus, among the newest group of test subjects; abandoning my friends at the door, I ran to him, picked him up, and stroked the owl's white feathers.

"Is this your owl?" Katy asked, appearing at my side.

I shook my head. "It's Lanie's, but I do know the owl. Meet Amadeus."

Amadeus snuggled his head into my shoulder comfortably. Amadeus and Peltie had always gotten along very well, meaning that Amadeus and I had also been chums since our first meeting the year before.

Katy stuck out her arm. "I'll take him so you can learn, Aly. We won't practice the Cruciatus Curse on him if he's your… pal."

I detected a hint of sarcasm in her sweet tone, but relief washed over me and I gladly handed Amadeus over. The owl screeched and ruffled his feathers in protest. I fondly scratched his white head feathers. I couldn't save _all_ of the owls from pain and hurt, but I could save Amadeus. _Lanie will be thrilled_ , I mused as Katy walked out with the hooting Amadeus. She had only owned the snowy owl for a year and a half- her parents had finally allowed her to buy a pet just before our third year.

"Grab an owl and sit down," Professor Gedding said in a monotonous, flat tone. I was pretty sure that all of the teachers had been placed under the Imperius Curse once the students went into hiding, because all of them had suddenly become expressionless and emotionless (except for the Commander, of course).

I turned to the nearest owl, a small grey-and-brown screech owl. Cradling its head in my palm for a moment, I whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Then I picked it up and went to my seat.

I was heading to my last long class of the day, dreading finding out exactly what I would be practicing the Killing Curse on, when I heard a very young and very high-pitched scream.

Headmaster Damien was towering over a young Hufflepuff girl from Ivan's group in the corridor outside the classroom he had claimed for his own, wand to the girl's neck, as I skidded into the corridor among crowds of curious onlookers. "You dare to defy me, Aviva? You dare to skip my class and _betray_ me?"

"Commander!" I yelled, trying to push forward through the crowds. They were too thick, and although the hall was hushing, it was still loud enough in the small space that was prone to echoes that Damien didn't appear to hear me.

The girl- Aviva, had he said?- was crying, sobbing hysterically, "I don't _want_ to kill anyone!" She had a light Irish accent, not at all like Lyndsay's brogue, although the girl's broad features did remind me of my Gryffindor friend. "I don't _want_ to be a murderer like you! I just want to learn, and _help_ people, and-"

Commander Damien slapped her upside the head with one meaty hand. Aviva's small dark head whipped to one side, course hair falling over one shoulder. "Wretched whelp! If you are not with me, you are _against_ me, and I shall kill you on the spot!"

Pushing my way through the final crowds, I tapped him on the shoulder. Maybe not the brightest thing to do. "O Commander? I don't think that's a wise decision."

He glanced sideways at me for a fraction of a moment. "Alyssa, you _must_ learn to let _me_ rule. _I_ am the king, and while it is indeed true that you will follow me someday, today is not that day."

"Killing off your own followers is a foolish move," I pointed out anyway. A hint of exasperation crept into my voice, and I didn't even try to hide it this time. I was _tired_ of Damien's crazy schemes and senseless killing. Maybe he would stop if he figured out exactly how much people despised him.

He did stop. Aviva crumpled to the floor, her tear-streaked face beaming gratitude at me.

"Miss Lamothe," Damien said in a scarily soft voice. "You are too week. I hereby assign you detention for the next week. Eight o'clock. My office. Don't be late. And count yourself lucky that Alyssa Salinger was here to save your sorry hide."

I didn't know who he was talking to- _Lamothe?_ \- until Aviva nodded and wiped away her tears. "Yes, Commander. Thank you, Alyssa."

I nodded at her with a soft smile.

"Alyssa, you will oversee the detentions."

This was highly unexpected, so it hit me like a kick in my stomach. My knees weakened and wobbled. "C-Commander?"

"You both need to learn strength and humility, although varying levels of that last one," Headmaster Damien decreed. "It will do you good."

Then he noticed that everyone around us was frozen, clumped and clustered around the scene, staring. Before he could shout, I mimicked what he most likely would have said, just in a calmer tone. "Get to class, everyone."

Everybody scurried off, and I turned on my heel and strode into my next class- Headmaster Damien's lessons on the Killing Curse.

The door had just swung shut behind me when my eyes landed on a box of- a box of- _gross._ I gagged. The box was overflowing, full to the brim with dead rats. And one single owl.

All the blood drained from my face.

The owl had white feathers tipped in grey, and black-and-golden eyes that would've looked familiar if they hadn't been so dull… so lifeless.

 _No_.

 _She said- but Katy said-_

I picked up Amadeus's limp body- for it _was_ Amadeus, Lanie's friendly and intelligent companion. My mouth opened in a short gasp as I cradled the owl's corpse.

"Sad about your owl friend?" Katy asked in a lilting voice from behind me.

I spun around, face flaming hotly. "You said you were _saving_ him, when really you offered him up as a sacrifice to be _killed!_ "

She shook her head, the beginnings of a slightly mocking smile spreading across her face. " _Actually_ , I sais no such thing. I just said we wouldn't practice the Cruciatus Curse on him, and we didn't. I _did_ tell the truth, you know."

"But _why?_ " I sputtered. "He was just an innocent owl!"

Katy glared at me with a ferociousness that was shocking to see on her face. "Aly, Aly, Aly. Listen, I know you're technically higher than us in rank, but that doesn't mean you're _better_." She shook her head in disgust. "Commander Damien is right. You _do_ need to learn some strength. You're getting too weak. Getting sad over a rebel's dead owl? _Really?_ You're acting like such a weakling, I could almost think you're a rebel sympathizer or something."

She walked away, and I was glad, because I was sure in that moment that had she looked at me dead-on, my face would have betrayed me and I would have died on the spot.

Lanie was devastated about Amadeus's irrational murder, but she seemed more worried about the whole detention issue. "What do you think he'll do to you and that poor Hufflepuff first-year?" she fretted. "I hope you don't have to torture her. I feel like that would break you, and then we'd all be doomed."

Her words were echoing around my mind when I arrived at Commander Damien's office later that night to administer my first detention to Aviva. Both Damien and the first-year were already there, Aviva clutching what looked like a normal dark quill. I assumed it was hers, but didn't see a pot of ink anywhere.

"I will be here, working at my desk, during all seven detentions," Damien declared. "Aviva, you will write your lines until you learn discipline and respect. Alyssa, you will watch her. If she writes anything other than the lines I have provided, if she pauses for more than a moment, if she speaks at all, you will punish her immediately. I hear you need to practice your Cruciatus Curse."

I dipped my head, hoping beyond hope that Aviva would keep quiet and write her lines in a timely fashion. Lines weren't so bad. We could make it through this together, Aviva and I.

"Commander, you didn't provide ink," Aviva said softly.

"You won't need it," Headmaster Damien practically chirped. He was suddenly rather jovial, which scared me far more than how angry he'd been earlier. "That quill you're holding is a marvelous invention by an idol of mine from about, oh, fifty years ago. I know _you've_ heard of Dolores Umbridge, Alyssa- but do you know of this wonderful quill?"

I shook my head. "No sir, I don't."

"Legend has it that it was used on Harry Potter himself, that scourge," Damien continued to crow. "I went to Hogwarts at the same time as his children, you know. I was a year below the oldest, and I remember when his youngest son was sorted into Slytherin. Such a stuck-up child, you know. Always thinking he knew more than his betters. I tried to befriend him, but I simply could not put up with his family line." Then, suddenly, he snapped his icy gaze to Aviva. "Well? Get writing!"

Aviva instantly sat in the extra chair by Damien's desk, placed a roll of parchment on the wooden tabletop- that _definitely_ was her own- and placed quill to paper. She ticked one line, inkless, for the letter _I_ and immediately stopped with a gasp.

I hurried to her side, eager to get her back on track. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Tears springing to her eyes, she showed me the back of her left hand. A line had been scratched into the skin, a line in shining scarlet blood.

I furrowed my brows. "How did _that_ happen? Never mind, just keep writing."

Aviva bit her lip and wrote the next letter, an _a_ , in shiny dark red ink. Where the ink was coming from I had no idea- not until the line healed over on the back of her hand and an _a_ cut into her skin beside it. Only then did I make the connection between the similar colors of the magically appearing ink and Aviva's own blood, welling up on the back of her hand.

 _The quill is siphoning Aviva's blood from her hand somehow and using it as ink._

Sickened, I told Aviva to continue in a strange voice that didn't at all sound like mine. She scratched an _m_ onto the parchment with a small cry of discomfort, then an _o_ , and then an _n_. Slowly, words began to take form in Aviva's scrawled handwriting on her dark brown skin and on the parchment alike.

 _I am only a soldier in Commander Damien Kayash's powerful army, and I will remember as such._

The words, tiny so they could all fit onto the back of her hand, healed over and over on Aviva's skin, only to be split open again and again and again. I was both horrified and fascinated by the magic of the quill. Yes, it was some powerful Dark feat, a seemingly innocent method of cruel torture, but how much work and thought had gone into that one quill? How many spells, how much time? How did it know which letter to cut open on which square centimeter of skin as Aviva wrote those terrible words over and over? At that moment, I dearly wished I knew the answers to those questions.

I stole a glance at Headmaster Damien. _Is he as disgusted by the quill as I am?_ No, he was watching with a detached interest out of the corner of his eye as he leaned back in his chair, abnormally large feet on the desk, turning pages in a dark-covered book. I craned my neck to read the title, and he obliged my unspoken request with a knowing smile. _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ by Owle Bullock. It was probably from the Restricted Section.

Commander Damien continued reading the Dark book for all seven 90-minute detentions. He finally turned the last page about half an hour before the final detention, at the exact moment that Aviva broke down in tears.

She tossed the quill aside. "I can't do this anymore," she sobbed, a hint of an unfamiliar accent creeping into her trembling voice. "It hurts, Aly, it hurts."

Damien closed _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ with a snap. "Alyssa," he said cruelly, completely ignoring the crying eleven-year-old sitting at his desk. "The curse?"

I looked up from comforting Aviva with a start. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think-"

"You _seem_ to have forgotten my _proper_ role at this school, my protégé," Damien snarled icily. "I am _Commander_ Damien. I am _King_ Damien. I am not a _sir._ " His nostrils flared. "And you _will_ perform that curse on Miss Lamothe… or else _you_ will take her place this coming week, and I will administer the detentions myself. I can be very cruel when necessary." He bared his teeth.

I tried to stand tall, to be brave. Aviva was just a first-year. She was a Hufflepuff like Rossalene. She was innocent and small and in pain.

…but I wasn't brave.

And Aviva had chosen to follow Damien, to join Finley's team.

 _Finley._

 _Imagine you're hexing Finley, Aly._

 _Do it._

" _Crucio!_ "

I didn't dare cry myself to sleep that night, for fear Peggy, Liv, and Jida- who had all stayed up late anyway, playing around with Jida's stash of Extendable Ears and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder- would hear me. But internally I vowed that I would get everyone out, and _soon_.

My eyes closed.

Then I bolted upright.

 _It's Sunday. Eleven p.m._

 _The counter-curse!_

I'd been so busy and exhausted the previous Sunday night that I'd completely forgotten to follow the Headmaster out to the killing barrier.

 _I have one hour._

Pushing my bedcurtains out of the way, I scanned the darkened room, with only moonlight to guide me. I was looking for something, and I knew exactly where to find it.

Poking out of Jida's bag beside her bed across the room.

I crept over, careful to leap over the squeaky floorboard in the middle of the dormitory and land lightly on the balls of my feet, and slipped it out of the embroidered satchel.

A flesh-colored string with the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes logo imprinted down the side.

With fifteen minutes left to spare until midnight, I slipped from bed and inched across the wooden floor. Neither Liv nor Jida stirred, and of course Peggy didn't either, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I got out into the hallway.

I was extra careful following Commander Damien that night. I had no one to distract him if I was discovered (but, on the bright side, I wouldn't have to distract him at all). I was truly alone, completely on my own. However, this enabled me to get a lot closer to the Head while he was whispering the counter-curse. Plus, I had- for the first time- a foolproof listening device. I had never used an Extendable Ear before, but I figured out how to fit it into my ear just as I reached the barrier.

 _Thank you, Wijida Sangsorn._

I listened for the counter-curse, staying as still as possible-

And I heard it.

" _Terbolescus Sanencio_ ," my tyrannical leader murmured.

The barrier parted in the torchlight that was quickly approaching from the other side. Julian was coming. I nearly jumped in excitement.

 _I know the counter-curse._

I was ninety-five percent sure that I had heard the Headmaster correctly. As Julian asked Damien why he suddenly needed so little food, I stood from my hiding space behind a bush and scurried back towards Hogwarts.

Everyone in the Room of Requirement, except for four guards, was fast asleep when I entered. The guards at the door- Jessie, Kira, Aleyn and Nate- jumped to accost me when I slipped in, but when they realized it was just me they parted. Jessie even escorted me personally to Lanie, chattering about hunger and sleeplessness (such dark topics for such a light and happy person). Lanie, Lynne, and Shawnee were curled up together on a bed of pillows with a thick black blanket tossed loosely over them. I didn't blame them for wanting to share body heat. It was one of those nights that occur in March and April where the cold suddenly snaps into existence even though it's spring.

Lanie woke first as I approached, her light brown hair knotted and tangled. When she saw me, she gasped, effectively waking Lynne. "How did the detention go? That poor girl, Aviva! I'm so glad it's-"

I cut her off, sort of sharply. "The counter-curse for the barrier. I know it."

Lanie was awake instantly, and she elbowed Shawnee until the black girl was also entirely awake. Shawnee tossed perfect dark spirals of hair, not mussed a bit, from her face. "How are you sure?"

In answer, I held up the Extendable Ear I'd nicked from Jida's bag.

Lanie's turquoise eyes widened, and she barked out a short, loud laugh, waking Brooklyn, Rossalene, and Millie, who were all sleeping nearby. Upon seeing me, they crawled over. Lanie had clapped a hand over her mouth the moment she laughed, and she lowered it slowly. "Extendable Ears! I can't believe we didn't think of that. We have to get an owl to the Ministry- they can save us."

"We can save ourselves," Brooklyn yawned stubbornly.

"But Lanie's right," Millie agreed with a matching yawn. "We should get an owl out. They can help. They're the government for a reason."

I folded my arms. "I'll do it. It's too dangerous for you all to leave."

"But you're in classes all day," Lanie pointed out in protest.

"We're just sitting around here twiddling our thumbs," Ross added.

"It's so _boring_ ," complained Helen as she joined the little circle we'd created, brushing her hair back with a small comb.

"We can do it, Aly," Lynne insisted, wiping a delicate hand across her eyes. Across the room, I spotted Johnny wake up and eye us all for a moment before rolling over and going back to sleep.

"You might be the head student of Damien's little army, but you're not the boss of _us_ ," Brooklyn said with a grin that was far too cheeky for the late hour.

I elbowed her. "Fine. The Ministry will come and make the barrier disappear and they'll cart Damien and his _real_ followers off to Azkaban. Then we'll be free and no one else will have died, as long as you guys are super careful with sending this letter."

"The death count of the Second Wizarding War was well over one hundred."

Startled, I turned to see Oscar standing behind me. His dark hair was messy too, but his matching eyes were as serious as ever as he stared at us.

"At least twenty were killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or on his direct orders," Oscar added, not so helpfully. "It is difficult to live during a war."

I turned away from Oscar. "He's right. We need to make sure that no one else dies." My green gaze found Lynne's. "Lynne, I have a favor to ask of you."

Thirty minutes later, we had a plan.

 **Not so action-packed, sure, but I can promise you that that will all change in the next few chapters. How did you like it? Was the counter-curse reveal decent? Let me know your thoughts in the review box below!**


	22. Chapter 22: The Last Normal Day

**Yesterday, August 31st of the year 2016, I finally finished Fourth Year! There are 25 chapters total, and starting today I'll be posting one chapter every Thursday until the 22nd of September, when the final chapter will be posted. Then, the first chapter of First Year, the third story in this wonderful Salinger Year series, will not be posted until the first of October, and I will post one chapter every Saturday until that fan fiction's completed too! Mark your calendars, people- these last four chapters and all 22 chapters of First Year are going to be a wild ride! (See my profile for more details!)**

 **Also, since it's September first- happy return back to Hogwarts! Who will I see there? Shall we meet up on the Hogwarts Express?**

It had been nearly a month since Brooklyn, Lanie, Millie, Shawnee, and Helen sent the letter to the Ministry (using the curiously untouched Peltie, of course). I had helped Lanie letter the plea for aid, and it had gone something like this:

 _To Whomever This May Concern:_

 _Our names are Rossalene Chung, Shawnee Haven, Lanie Kelling, Helen MacDougal, Alyssa Salinger, Millie Thresher, Lynne Turnip, and Brooklyn Vawdrey. We are students at Hogwarts in our fourth year._

 _Damien Kayash has taken over the school as a dictator since the start of term. He has also created a large barrier that kills anyone who touches it to keep students in and everyone else out. He has also assembled an army of evil students to hurt, maim, harass and even (recently) kill the rest of the Hogwarts population, whom they call the 'rebels'. This army includes, but is not limited to, students such as Katy Beaurepaire, Maile Quentin, Finley Denton, Lachlan Hargreve, and Sami Wright. We have included a full list of these students in our letter._

 _Alyssa Salinger has also been drafted into this army- as the leader of his student population, in fact. However, Alyssa has been repulsed by the cruelty of the group since day one and has been working as a spy against Professor Kayash for the entirety of this past year. It is thanks to her that we are able to send his letter, as she, Lanie Kelling, and Shawnee Haven have been spying on Professor Kayash for weeks during his weekly trips to the border to collect supplies from a man named Julian in Hogsmeade. Lanie and Shawnee have recently been trapped inside the school, unable to exit, but Alyssa went on her own this past Sunday and figured out the counter-curse, which we have used to sneak this owl out to you._

 _Currently, Professor Kayash has a death count of twelve students- in order of death, they are Arthur Wood, Margaret Lacy, Lindsey Frowseloure, Carter Ryall, Sophie Jordan, Vincent Winters, Lisa Ryall, Ash Fleetwood, Liana Joulon, Camellia Keene, Alexei Alby, and Zachary Henson. Because we do not want any more deaths, Lynne Turnip- who is a citizen of France and attended Beauxbatons for her first year of Wizarding schooling- has offered to use her connections to France and Beauxbatons to evacuate everyone fourteen or younger. We believe that fourth-years and up should be allowed to stay in case of a battle since we are beginning more advanced coursework in preparation for our O.W.L.s and we have led parts if not most of the revolution against Professor Kayash. (And yes, we were indeed learning actual coursework until the fourth of March.)_

 _The counter-curse that makes a small part of the barrier disappear is_ Terbolescus Sanencio _. We are urgently awaiting your assistance, as we are possibly going to soon run out of food._

 _Other than the twelve listed dead, everyone who does not follow Damien is safe. We are hiding in a secret room on the seventh floor of Hogwarts. Please help us. We are in urgent need of a rescue, and Damien Kayash deserves to be put on trial and sent to Azkaban._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Rossalene Chung, fourth-year Hufflepuff_

 _Shawnee Haven, fourth-year Ravenclaw_

 _Lanie Kelling, fourth-year Ravenclaw_

 _Helen MacDougal, fourth-year Ravenclaw_

 _Alyssa Salinger, fourth-year Ravenclaw_

 _Millie Thresher, fourth-year Ravenclaw_

 _Lynne Turnip, fourth-year Ravenclaw_

 _Brooklyn Vawdrey, fourth-year Slytherin_

I had been adamant that we add our Houses on at the end of the letter. The Ministry needed to know that not only Ravenclaws were helping, and Rowena forbid they assumed that all Slytherins were evil.

I had also been sure that the Ministry would instantly respond, would save us all within the week. But April arrived and the first week came and went, with Johnny, Eli and Matt moping around that they didn't have any materials for pranks on the first day of April, and there was no sign of the government.

Bekka was definitely rationing food by the last week of March, too. Less food appeared on the tables during meals, and everyone in the Room of Requirement grew thin and wan. People who had already been slender, like Lanie or Brooklyn or Jessie, became bony and weak. I tried to sneak them extra food, but I was only one person, and it was difficult, and there was only so much served at meals! Still, I felt terrible when I visited them on Monday, April 11th, bringing my paltry stash of muffins from breakfast and rolls from dinner, and was greeted enthusiastically at the door by Nick. I could see the Gryffindor boy's ribs through his loose white shirt. No one else was any better. Kevin Grimm, the final of the five Ravenclaw fourth-year boys, had his left arm swell up. Kira, who had always been so happy and sweet, became irritable and grumpy. Even Zola Greene, Will's young first-year Slytherin sister, began to shiver chronically. (Oscar informed me without my asking that extreme sensitivity to low temperatures, cantankerousness, and swelling from fluid under the skin were all symptoms of starvation.) Will was trying to tend to Zola, Eric to Kevin, and Rossalene to Kira, but nothing was working. As I fell asleep that night, the newly full moon shining bright through my arched window, I vowed that I would bring Zola if not the others some special treat upon the morrow, even if I had to go down to the kitchens and beg Bekka on my knees for it.

The next day was a Tuesday, but I woke up from horrific, bloody nightmares to the announcement that classes had been canceled. Liv and Jida were ecstatic- "Free day, free day!", they chanted- until Peggy reminded them that we would probably end up searching all day for the rebels instead.

But, shockingly, no! Damien announced at breakfast that we were being given the day off. Smiling widely, he declared, "You have all been working so hard lately. I think you need a break. Classes for today are being canceled, so please, enjoy yourselves. Oh, and one more thing." His eyes roamed over the Damien-follower table, which had been turned around so that we all ate facing the teachers now. "I have a special surprise planned for dinner tonight, so please arrive on time."

It was the first time I had heard him say _please_ twice in the same minute for a long time.

I walked out with Katy, Maile, and Sami, the last of which elbowed me in the side. "And those rebels think Commander Damien's not a good leader! Did we ever get random days off during McGonagall?"

I forced myself to laugh along with the brutal Gryffindor girl. I still couldn't look Katy full in the eye after the Amadeus incident, and I knew Sami could be just as cruel if I gave her a reason to be. "Right? Honestly, they should have taken the chance when we offered it. Now, when we find them, they will have chosen to die for their foolish beliefs."

It sounded like I was reading from a script, but Maile didn't seem to think so. "Couldn't have said it better myself," she chirped, braiding three locks of her blond hair together and wrapping it into a small braided flower without even looking in a mirror. Really, had I not known that soon she would be headed off to Azkaban, I would've sincerely believed that Maile Quentin had a future career in fashion.

Katy grinned at me. I avoided her sharp green stare. "Glad to see you toughening up, Aly! I know you're nice and all, but a leader needs to be strong and show no mercy."

What terrified me most at that moment was not that she had said that, but that I knew she actually believed it. I tried to shrug it off and change the subject. "Thanks, Katy. I'm going to head over to the library. I heard there's a limited-edition copy of _House-Elves and Self-Hatred_ there, and I've never seen it. I'd like to read it today if I could, since we have a free day."

Sami laughed. "You're so _bookish,_ Aly." She said it like it was a bad thing.

"She's a Ravenclaw," Maile added with a graceful shrug of her plump shoulders and a wry smile.

Katy smirked. "I'll come with you, if you don't mind, Aly. I've been wanting to reread _The Moons of Jupiter_ for a while, and I forgot my copy at home before I came to Hogwarts this year."

"Oh." I hadn't, of course, planned at all to go to the library. But according to Helen, there _was_ a limited-edition copy of _House-Elves and Self-Hatred_ with an epilogue explaining why the author believed house-elf psychology was due to the cruelty of their masters (according to legend, only 200 books were printed with the epilogue before it was removed in an effort to make the books more Dark) there, and I _did_ want to read it… "Sounds good to me."

Despite not being my original plan for the day, I enjoyed visiting the library. High shelves crammed with dusty, disused, and detailed books filled the space; light peppered with dust particles streaming in through giant arched windows. It was cold outside for an April day, but still as sunny as if it was the middle of summer. The ceiling of the library rose high into the sky, approached only by catwalks on various levels used to access higher books. On the floor, a reddish-brown carpet was mostly hidden by tables, chairs, and miscellaneous books (the Damien-followers never seemed to clean up after themselves). I had heard a rumor once that the floor in the library used to be red, but so much had been spilled on it that it had turned the ugly burgundy color, and Madam Pince had subsequently banned all food and drink from the library. No matter the disgusting color of its floor, the library was wholeheartedly my favorite place in the entirety of Hogwarts. I could run through it pursued by screaming enemies, a whole clan of acromantulas, and maybe even a troll or two, and I would still appreciate the room's grandeur and class. Plus, as I quickly discovered, the nearly-unread epilogue in _House-Elves and Self-Hatred_ was worth the trip, reflecting my liberal views on the many freedoms house-elves deserved exactly. I even checked it out of the library, with a zombielike Madam Pince's permission, and stuck it in my bag to show Lanie later.

After lunch, Katy and Maile- without first-years to terrorize- decided to raid the Slytherin rebels' dormitories and take what nice things they had. They invited Sami, Eve-Charlotte, Peggy, and a few other girls along. I was included within these invitees, but I declined the offer in order to secretly visit the people in the Room of Requirement. I wasn't much of a thief, but I'd managed to slip an entire cake- _an entire cake!_ \- into my schoolbag after lagging behind in the Great Hall after lunch. The first-years mobbed the cake, and it was big enough to get each of them a (very small) piece. Zola, as it turned out, was a hater of frosting; but a tall black first year named Lilianna Bennett, who bore more than a passing resemblance to Shawnee, apparently had an affinity for it. Lilianna ate the sickly sweet vanilla buttercream off of Zola's cake, and Zola ate Lilianna's actual cake, leaving the frosting for the Ravenclaw. The two first-year girls beamed at each other as I watched, and I smiled fondly. _I wouldn't be surprised if that ended up a friendship that lasted a lifetime._

Then Zola shook violently and the cake came back up in a corner, and the mood was ruined.

When I left fifteen minutes later and arrived at Ravenclaw Tower, I was shocked to find the door with the eagle knocker that led to the common room ajar. Upon further inspection, the door to the girls' dormitories was open too, but the stairs were still stairs, not a slide.

"So no boys came up the stairs," I noted in a murmur as I clambered up them.

"Oh, no, dear," the portrait of Queen Guenloie clucked in a motherly tone. "No boys, just a posse of completely unruly girls! I believe they've ransacked the first-years', second-years' and third-years' dormitories already, and they're in yours now. Best stop them before they cause any more damage!"

I thanked the portrait of the queen and continued climbing the steps. Guenloie had been a Muggle-born Ravenclaw witch in one of the first graduating classes of Hogwarts. After graduating, she had used magic to invent some wonderful Muggle technologies that hadn't been recognized as existing until centuries later. Subsequently, the queen's portrait had been hung in the girls' staircase of Ravenclaw Tower as the first portrait of a high-achieving female Ravenclaw, and three and a half years ago she had been the first one to greet me and my fellow first-years during our first night at Hogwarts.

The 'posse of completely unruly girls' was indeed raiding my room. Sami, Katy, Maile, Peggy, and Eve-Charlotte had gathered up some other girls during their thieving escapades, and all ten of them were completely trashing the Ravenclaw fourth-year girls' dormitory.

In horror, I watched Millie's silver telescope crash to the ground from the hand of a fifth-year Slytherin girl and shatter.

Katy plucked Shawnee's Muggle chess set off of her shelf. "What? It doesn't move? This is useless!" She dropped it to the floor and crushed the white king beneath her foot.

I winced.

A pair of second-year Slytherin twins, one with red hair and one with blonde but otherwise looking exactly alike- grabbed up Lynne's golden replica of Earth. The yellow-haired sister tugged on one side, the auburn-haired on the other, and together they wailed, " _Give it to me!_ " The blonde sister tacked "Caoimhe!" onto her complaint, leading me to the deduction that the redhead's name was Caoimhe. Caoimhe. Caoimhe stomped her foot and pulled harder, and her twin tripped. The globe slammed into Lynne's bedpost and made a horrid cracking sound.

I shuddered.

Then the worst of all happened. My favorite childhood toy, an ancient stuffed hippogriff that had been lovingly christened Beebee when I was two, had been journeying to Hogwarts with me every year since my very first. I didn't sleep with Beebee anymore, but he was a symbol of home, a spot of comfort in what had once been an unfamiliar place and was now turning that way again. I still loved Beebee to death, no matter how dirty and ratty he was getting. So when a Chinese fifth-year girl in Gryffindor robes picked Beebee up by one badly-kept wing and made a face at him, I lost my cool.

Barging in from the doorway, I snatched Beebee away from her. "Leave him alone!"

The girl's face morphed into an expression of surprise. I recognized her now as one of Peggy's group. "I didn't realize this was your room," she said in a flat, annoyed tone.

My eye twitched. "Don't touch my things."

Caoimhe held up Lanie's globe in complaint. "Eve-Charlotte, Keeva won't let me have the globe!"

I recognized the redhead now as the girl from Eve-Charlotte's group who was friends with Sara. _Keeva must be the blonde sister._ Stepping between the tall second-year Slytherins, I easily relieved them of the globe. "I'll take that. Peg-" I nodded to the oldest girl in the room- "would you all mind not looking through this room? I hear the fifth-years have some candy stashed away somewhere."

It was a hopeful lie, of course, but it worked. The three second-years- the twins and then a darker-skinned Indian girl in yellow robes- immediately forgot about material possessions and started clamoring for candy.

I could tell that Peggy couldn't resist the kids' cries, which actually endeared her to me for a moment. "Okay, okay," she allowed, melting. "Come on, guys. And after this, we'll do Gryffindor- I hear some of the third-years are super rich!"

Once everyone was gone, I set to repairing the room. The globe had cracked right across Scotland, so I repaired it quickly (luckily, I'd gotten a lot better at Mending Charms since my first year at Hogwarts). I wasn't quite sure what Shawnee's chess set was made of, but the white king had been crushed to powder beneath the sharp and heavy heel of Katy's boot, so I fixed that as well. Then I took a quick glance at the room as a whole. The posse had knocked bottles off of shelves, mussed beds, and strewn clothing everywhere in their search for nice things to steal.

The Aly from a year before would have shied away from the utterly cluttered room, and probably would've claimed it wasn't her mess to clean up too. However, now I'd been cleaning all year during the nights instead of sleeping. I searched out Polly's rainbow feather duster from her curiously untouched trunk and went to work.

I spent my last few semi-normal hours of the year (although of course I didn't know that they would be so at the time) cleaning up not only my own dormitory, but the other six Ravenclaw girls' rooms as well. Four-poster beds had been toppled and untucked, possessions deemed unworthy torn and broken, drawers emptied, clothes ripped. I found Sophie Jordan's old record player and bag of records in a makeshift shrine under one of the third-year Ravenclaw girls' beds (concealed from Liv and Jida, I was certain) and turned on some music. It was all oldies, but that was okay. The portraits in the hallway oohed and aahed and bopped to the beat as I slipped record after record onto the player and set them playing.

I dusted shelves and righted beds to Celestina Warbeck's _You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me._

I mended items and organized shelves to part-vampire Lorcan d'Eath's _Necks to You._

I made beds and repaired ripped robes to _This Is the Night_ by the Weird Sisters.

Finally, just as the last strains of Myron Wagtail's golden voice crooning _Magic Works_ faded- calling up memories of the first-day-back-at-school party, when Sophie and Carter and Zach had been happy and dancing and _alive_ \- I realized that dinnertime had already arrived. I was fifteen minutes late, _exactly_ what I'd been asked _not_ to be.

Covered in dust and exhausted from mending so much stuff, hair still pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, I stuck my skinny wand in the pocket of my black school robes and took off for the Great Hall.

I was halfway there when an arm reached out from an alcove and snagged my robes, pulling me into the crevice as I shrieked in surprise and horror.

Seven minutes later, I burst through the doors of the Great Hall, an apology and an excuse on my lips already. Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to me, full of mixed delight, terror, and relief.

Yes, _hundreds._

There was a scream. I instantly located the source- Brooklyn, being held by Headmaster Damien with his wand to her throat.

The scream was my name.

" _Aly!_ " Brooklyn screeched. " _Ruuuuuun!_ "

I turned to flee, seeing scared students clustered along the walls and suspecting that every rebel from the Room of Requirement was there being held captive by Damien's army, but suddenly three seventh-years appeared from behind me, blocking my path out of the Great Hall as the doors slowly closed. The middle seventh-year, shortest of the three but also the burliest, cracked his knuckles menacingly while the other two stared me down with looks that made me respectively think that I had murdered their pet and that I was about to die.

 _Oh, Rowena, no._

"Alyssa," Damien called from behind me. "Face me like the coward you are."

I turned on my heel, slowly. "Yes, Commander."

"All this time." His tone was disappointed, melancholy even, but although his ice-blue eyes glistened, the tears were not of sadness but of fury. "All this time I believed you were on my side. I treated you like my own child!" (I snorted in disbelief at that.) "I believed you were simply weak and could not tolerate pain in others- a trait I could have easily driven out of your soul, given time." He cleared his throat, and then completely out of the blue yelled at the top of his lungs: "But all this time you have been plotting against me! You have sided with the very rebels who planned to destroy me, _helped_ them, _led_ them even! Beneath my very nose you have worked against me. The Ryall vial disappearing so early into my collection after our meeting- only two dying at the barrier during your foolish first uprising against me- the list of students who loyally followed me, missing your name- the bodies of misbehaving students that I had planned to use as Inferi guards at the start of next term, gone- it was all you, a spy the entire time! You have committed the worst crime of all- betraying a superior!"

"You _killed_ people!" I screamed at him.

The Hall was silent as he processed my words. I took the time to take a step forward and glance around. Sure enough, just as I'd suspected, Nick, Lanie, Zola, Aleyn, Art, Raj- every student who had been hiding in the Room of Requirement for the past five weeks was here, grouped against the walls or huddling in small knots. They were patrolled by Katy, Liv, Caoimhe, Finley, and the rest of the Damien-followers. I spotted a strangely hardened and stone-faced Aviva Lamothe jabbing her wand threateningly at a posse of especially tiny Ravenclaw first-years, her own peers. A taller one with white-blonde waves for hair- _Ivory, Ivory Alberts from the Sorting_ , I realized with a start- tried to stand up for her friends, but Aviva Stunned her in a flash of vermilion light.

Instantly, I wanted to rush to help Ivory, doubly so since she was a Ravenclaw, one of my own House.

 _Stay calm,_ I reminded myself. _Stay calm for a few more minutes and then all will be fine._

"I did indeed kill people," Damien allowed with a nod. He squeezed Brooklyn tighter, and my friend's face- framed by long dark hair that I feared would act as an impromptu shroud soon- blanched. "But I did that for a good reason. I killed those who betrayed me. Just as you now have." Slowly, surely, he dug the tip of his sharp blackthorn wand into my cousin's shadowed olive neck. "But I do not think that simply killing you alone could be _nearly_ enough punishment for the crimes you have committed against me."

One fat, scarlet drop of blood welled up on Brooklyn's thin neck.

"I will instead kill all of your friends before I kill you."

A tear splashed down Brooklyn's tanned cheek, and my heart wrenched for my best friend. She was practically my sister- I loved her more than anything- I couldn't lose her!

Damien grinned a sharp, malevolent, and purely _evil_ smile at me. Then he hissed out one final sentence to make me break, emphasizing each word.

"And I will make you _watch._ "

As he raised his wand to strike down my beloved cousin, I leapt forward in tears.

"Damien, _no!_ "

The dictator froze. He turned narrowed blue eyes on me.

" _Damien?_ " Damien repeated.

I stood tall, hoping my insolence wouldn't get any of my friends killed. "Yes." I leveled my gaze at the tyrannical man who called himself a king but was just a human, a wizard like the rest of us, attempting to make my stare as steely as his. " _Damien._ Because you don't even deserve the title of Headmaster."

Before he could react, I raised my face to the ceiling- the signal hadn't come yet, but I couldn't wait for the damned government to 'get into position'- and screamed.

" _Chaaaaaarge!_ "

There was an instant uproar. Brooklyn ducked, twisting out of Damien's grip as she did so and rotating his arm in a way it really shouldn't have rotated in the same instant. Damien howled in pain as Brooklyn sprinted away from him, into the turmoil, but another shriek was piercing the air too. As rebels rose up against Damien- followers tackling them, disarming them, and even duelling a few- Annie Henson charged the tyrant straight-on, wand outstretched, yelling.

" _For Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"_

She was struck down as she ran by a flash of green. Damien's right arm hung limply at his side, the elbow bent backwards in a grotesque and bruising angle. His wand was in his left hand- not his wand hand- but he had still managed to murder Annie Henson.

Her body spilled limply onto the steps below his feet, her head cracking on the marble stairs and ensuring she was dead in case she had pulled a Harry Potter on us all and survived the Killing Curse. Four screams full of pain, and heartbreak, and of course Annie's name silenced the rest of the battle.

The first scream was Nellie's.

The second, Raj's.

Sunny's the third.

I didn't realize that the fourth was coming from me until I shut my mouth and the last shriek abruptly cut off.

 _Zach. I couldn't protect Zach._

 _And now I couldn't save his little sister either._

Headmaster Damien cackled a mad, insane laugh. "Alyssa," he managed to giggle. "You really thought you could beat _me?_ With a group of untrained, stupid students? It matters not that you outnumber us. My team knows curses yours could only _hope_ to know! We have Dark wizardry on our side!"

The window above him shattered. A tawny Northern Saw-Whet Owl- _Peltie-_ fluttered through the broken glass and swooped down to perch happily on my shoulder. I scratched my owl under the chin and she hooted loudly, then affectionately nipped the lobe of my ear.

"Oh, yeah?" I folded my arms and, channeling Nick's arrogance, gave him a cocksure smile. "Well, we have the Ministry."

The doors burst open behind me, the seventh-years who had been guarding it running aside to avoid being crushed. Every other door in the Hall slammed open as well. There in the doorways stood Aurors big and small, along with Professors Longbottom, Gedding, Fourier, Descoteaux, Brocklehurst, Turner, Zeller, Ross-Campbell, O'Cain, Maduthy, Quirke, and Binns (well, he didn't _stand_ so much as _floated_ ), and Sir Sutherland, and Madams Pomfrey and Pince, plus a legion of one hundred and fifty house-elves. Best of all, there was Polly in the door nearest Damien, healed and on her own two feet again (just a bit wobbly and weak). But, scanning the Aurors, I saw so many faces I recognized from the history books and my mother's work as a journalist for the _Daily Prophet._ There were even some super-famous ones like the sixty-something-year-old Harry Potter, who was technically the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (but who cared, really), his son Albus Potter, and even the great Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt himself! As I stared in awe- I had only spoken to a female Auror with orangey-red hair in the corridor on the way to the Great Hall, when I had discovered that the Ministry had finally broken through the barrier after a month of trying and infiltrated Hogwarts and created the plan- I noticed a growling wolf with suspiciously human eyes behind Minister Shacklebolt. I shuddered for the second time that day. The Auror I'd spoken to had never mentioned a werewolf, albeit one that was quite obviously under the influence of the Wolfsbane Potion (even though, I supposed, we had only spoken for enough time for me to understand the plan and the signals and what to yell if I needed help).

I turned back to Damien and smirked proudly up at him, still channeling Nick, who I knew would be so pleased with me later. "You were saying?"

 **Just a quick warning: these next two chapters are going to be a little gory. If you're averse to that sort of thing, PM me so I can give you a quick, bloodless summary! But for now, you know the drill: will you please leave a constructive review for me? Thanks!**

 **~atrfla**


	23. Chapter 23: The Final Fight

**...I'm so sorry.**

" _Avada Kedavra!_ "

A streak of green light soared toward me. I froze, staring wide-eyed at the streak of lime that had shot from Katy's wand at her words. Just as it was about to hit me, just as I closed my eyes and readied myself to face oblivion, there was a squawk and one last gentle, loving nip on my ear.

I opened my eyes in shock.

Peltie's body collided with the curse, went limp instantly, and fell to the floor in front of me.

My legs jellied and I collapsed to the ground with her. " _No_ ," I whispered, Not my beautiful, kind, adoring owl. Not my sweet companion. Not my loyal, caring pet. "No, _no_ \- not _Peltie-_ "

I cradled her feathered form in my hands, all traces of warmth gone from the husk.

Moments ago I'd been on top of the world, so sure we would win with the Ministry at our backs, positive we could overwhelm them with our sheer numbers and force without causing any more deaths to taint the halls of Hogwarts. Now Peltie was dead.

She'd died protecting _me._

" _Charge!_ " yelled a deep voice from behind me.

Kingsley Shacklebolt raised his wand and charged past me, straight at Damien. He blocked the tyrant's first Cruciatus Curse and they began to duel with loud shouts and flashes of color.

All around me, Ministry workers hurried to everyone third-year and younger, shielding them from curses and ushering them to the main doorway, where Lynne waited with a whole chain of Portkeys. She would get the younger students to France, where they would all be safe.

That is, if they went willingly. Most did, but I saw Raj wriggle out from an Auror's shielding grip and try to jump Damien from behind. Art snatched him out of the air by the collar of his tattered robes, backed him into a corner, and guarded him fiercely from an approaching and _angry_ Katy.

Art shot a Scalping Curse that the blonde Slytherin, who was so fiercely loyal to the wrong side, only narrowly dodged. She stared open-mouthed at him, for how he knew the Dark curse she could not understand. I suppressed a grin. Every curse I had learned had been taught to my classmates by yours truly. Everyone fourth-year and up knew a barrage of charms and curses that the army of the tyrant had learned, and then some. Shield Charms, Disarming Charms, Entrail-Expelling Curses, everything. We were indeed well-prepared.

But it was not enough, at least not for Art. Katy was soon backed by Sara, and duelling two at once was too much for Art. As his body hit the floor- the victim of a painless, sweet Killing Curse- Sara walked up to Raj and sent an Entrail-Expelling Curse straight into her fellow second-year's chest.

She barely had time to smile in triumph, an ugly smile of yellowing teeth against pasty skin and dark hair, and kick Raj's twitching, dying body out of the way before a Killing Curse slammed into her side with all the force of a thunderbolt. The slender, raven-haired second-year's body crumpled to the ground beside the body of her first kill, still wearing that arrogant smile on her thin, cruel face.

Nellie had killed her.

Ash Fleetwood's Ravenclaw sister rushed to Raj's side. Tears still streaked her face from Annie's death, and a fresh batch flowed freely down her cheeks as she knelt beside her dead friend. Blood pooled beneath Raj, coupled with guts and gore that Nellie tried in vain to stuff back into his chest. Squeamish, I tried to look away, but I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the terrible carnage. Nellie, the poor sweet soul, was struck down where she knelt by an equally brutal and bloody Amputation Curse from Sami.

I stood, letting Peltie's body fall to the floor.

Four second-years and Art July down.

I couldn't provide much, couldn't do much to save people on my own- but I _could_ be a distraction.

Harry Potter was helping Kingsley Shacklebolt duel Damien now, and they would have easily been able to overtake the dictator except for two things. The first was the latter's extensive array of new curses. The Blocking Curse, the Whirlwind Hex, and more- he cast new defensive curses and shot attacking ones at the two famous wizards. A Whirlwind Hex even hit Minister Shacklebolt in the soldier and spun him around like a top, leaving him dizzy and disoriented when the wind dissipated. The second thing was a tiny bottle that Damien kept swigging tiny sips from, full to the brim with a glowing golden liquid. I'd never actually seen any, but I'd heard of the mythical potion.

 _Felix Felicis._

I crept over to the side of the Hall and prepared to leap.

 _If we're all equally lucky, we'll stand a better chance at capturing Damien, and then this foolish bloodshed will be over._

Harry Potter glanced my way. He shot off another curse, and in the loud chaos he mouthed at me, _Look out!_

I was able to turn only halfway before Peggy tackled me to the ground and put a thin kitchen knife to my throat. "That house-elf was good for _something_ , at least," she sneered, dark hair curling over her face and down into my mouth. I spat out a lock as she reared back, ready to cut my throat.

A Stunning Spell from Jessie knocked her off of me, and as I thanked my near-lookalike in my head, I leapt to my feet and dove for Damien, dodging a stray curse from Liv and snatching the Felix Felicis from Damien's hand as I passed.

Damien roared in surprise and fury. "Get her!" he boomed, gesturing to me with his broken arm.

I fled the Great Hall with a few nearby rebels, at least fifteen of Damien's army in hot pursuit. I glanced to either side as I turned the corner. Harry Potter had followed me and was covering us in flashes of scarlet light- _Disarming Charms_. The other three people accompanying me, as I discovered while we ran, were Sunny (who had stayed behind in secret instead of going with Lynne, plump face streaked with tears), Nick, and Aleyn. Sunny was chubby and short, but she was able to keep pace with us as we sprinted down corridors, up stairs, and through classrooms. Nick too was very fast, faster than me even, and I had long legs so I could keep up. The issue was Aleyn. Nick and I had to tug him along as we sped towards and into the library.

We ran up the steps onto the catwalks, Harry Potter close behind. We were, however, forced to skid to a stop there when confronted from the front by ten of Damien's followers, led by Ivan and Eve-Charlotte (who wore matching snarls of disgust and wrath upon their faces).

"Thought you could run, eh?" a voice sneered from behind us. The voice, which I hadn't heard directed at me since Christmas, sent a chill of terror down my spine.

Finley Denton's sky-blue eyes glared me down as I slowly turned to face him. "Give me the Felix Felicis," he continued, "and _maybe_ I'll let you go… with minimal damage."

I folded my arms and scoffed at him. "Sure, you'll pin me to the wall and try to tear my robes off again? I don't call _rape_ 'minimal damage', Finley. You're a creep and a pervert, and you can go to hell!"

Nick beside me looked both highly disgusted and highly impressed.

"Get them," Eve-Charlotte ordered snidely from behind us.

And the enemies charged.

I deflected a curse from an older Gryffindor boy and pushed him off the catwalk. He flipped over the safety rail, hair blowing in straw-colored curls over his horrified face, and fell with a scream until he landed on the floor below with a sickening _crack_. With no time to feel remorse, I turned to shield myself from Eve-Charlotte's Disintegration Curse just in time to watch Jida, who was duelling Sunny in flashes of red and green light. It looked like a dangerous Christmas-themed light show. Jida deflected Sunny's Disarming Charm and Stunned her, then raised her wand to finish the last of the second-year quartet off.

" _No!_ " Ivan shouted, leaping in front of Sunny and killing Jida with a curse at the same time. I had never heard Ivan speak of his own accord before… and I never would again.

Sunny scrambled out from under her brother's dark body with a shriek of terror and pain as Jida fell. "Ivan, Ivan!" she screamed, shaking him. "Get up- get _up!_ I can't go home without you there- not you, too- I've already lost my best friends of all time- think of Mummy, think of Papa, _get up!_ "

" _Stop your sniveling!_ " Finley bellowed, and then he stopped her whining himself with a curse. Two Liripine siblings, dead in under a minute.

Aleyn and Nick appeared at my side, two loyal comrades and allies. Aleyn panted, "Aly, there are too many of them. We have to go!"

My head was throbbing madly from all the shouted curses, danger I was in, and flashes of light. I said dreamily, "But it's so _beautiful_ in the library."

"She's snapped," Aleyn stammered with a bewildered laugh. "Aly's gone mad!"

"Aly was always mad," Nick claimed. Then he took the Felix Felicis from my tightly clenched fist, working his fingers into mine so that we were almost holding hands before he confiscated the vial, and slapped me across the face.

This was not what brought me out of my dreamy, forgetful stupor. No, it was a sudden flash of yellow and black, brown hair and pale skin, in front of me, and then a sudden weight on my toes. I glanced down.

Aleyn lay on the floor, choking and burbling in a growing pool of blood. A silver knife protruded from the side of his throat.

He'd jumped in front of me, taken the blade that had been meant to kill me in the most mundane way possible.

I knelt beside him as he shuddered and opened and closed his mouth, trying to speak. "It's okay, Aleyn. You're going to be fine- we'll get you to Madam Pomfrey and-"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Finley stomp closer. _He threw the knife_ , I instantly realized. Nick leapt to defend us, me and the dying boy on my feet, and the two began to duel.

When Aleyn opened his mouth, his teeth were soaked red with dripping blood. I quickly looked away, just in time to see more people fall. There was nowhere safe to look. I closed my eyes.

"Tell… Mum…" Aleyn's voice pervaded my silence, raspy and weak and dying. He coughed, spattering warm blood into my face. I tried to keep my lunch down and squeezed my eyes shut even more tightly. "I love…"

When I opened my eyes, he was dead.

I ran my hand over Aleyn's neck. The wound was on the side; if the knife and blood were gone, he would almost look like he was sleeping from a certain angle. Slowly, softly, I magically siphoned all the blood off of Aleyn and, I was pretty sure, myself- then I yanked the knife out and slid it into my sleeve, careful to keep all of the resulting blood off of Aleyn. The liquid spilled from the gaping hole, staining my fingers and shoes, but I didn't care.

 _In every book I've ever read, if a character watches someone else die, they close the dead person's eyes._

 _Aleyn died for me. I need to thank him, even if it's in such a small way as closing his eyes._

I reached out to close Aleyn's greenish-blue eyes, then hesitated squeamishly.

 _Well, that's sort of disgusting… will it squish?_

Before I could decide whether to brave touching a dead corpse's eyeballs or not, a grunt and a cry exploded through the chaos to attack my ears, and Nick flew by me, airborne. He landed on the bannister, toppled over, and grabbed on to the outer side of the safety rail with one hand. All I could see were Nick's knobby fingers, nails bitten to the quick, as he dangled over a deathly drop.

Two down on our side. I did a quick head count of my enemies. Eight dead, ten having run away, and seven remaining. Five of them dueled Mr. Potter in flashes of light and loud _bang_ s as curses were cast and deflected. Then, there was Finley. Backed by Eve-Charlotte, he approached me slowly, fury and delight mixing on his handsome face.

I tried to get up and run, but I tripped over the dead body of Liv Reid. Her blonde bangs were mussed and covered in blood. I slammed backwards into the ground and retched from the grotesqueness and the force, scrambling back away from my attacker.

" _Go to hell, Finley_ ," Finley mocked as he advanced eerily. " _You're a creep, Finley. Get away from me, Finley_. Well, I hate to break it to you, _darling_."

My back hit something hard and uneven. I half-turned. I was backed all the way up against the safety rail, right next to where Nick was five fingers away from falling to his death. He glanced up, I looked down; we saw utter terror in each other's' eyes in that moment.

"But you're _mine_ ," Finley snarled, drawing my attention back to him. Eve-Charlotte laughed daintily and tossed her vermilion hair, like we were simply preparing to drink afternoon tea. "You've been mine since I first laid eyes on you, and you'll be mine until the day I die!" He kicked aside Aleyn's body, crossed to me in three quick strides, and roughly yanked me to my feet by the collar of my robes. "You'd better accept that, or it'll only make things worse for you."

Then he punched me in the mouth.

My head snapped to the side, and I tasted blood. That made me think of Aleyn, which only fueled my anger more.

 _It's time to end this._

I smiled up at Finley, sure my teeth were covered in blood the same as Aleyn's had been.

He quirked an eyebrow, his face relaxing somewhat, and a hopeful smile crept across his face. It was actually a rather nice smile, but that didn't change my mind about what I was about to do.

I spat blood into his eyes.

The smile vanished and, cursing, he dropped me. Eve-Charlotte pulled her wand- to murder me, I'm sure- but she was caught off guard by a scarlet Disintegration Curse from Nick that slammed into her matching hair with a violent scream. As Eve-Charlotte screeched and clawed at her creamy skin with fingers that were crumbling to grey dust the more they moved, I stepped forward, _towards_ Finley rather than away. With a steady hand, I drew my knife from my sleeve and stabbed Finley right in his beautiful and terrible blue left eye.

Harry Potter turned, having made the last of his enemies flee for their lives for the Great Hall, just in time to see Eve-Charlotte Carew's legs turn to ash and Finley Denton scream in pain. My would-be lover doubled over, clutching his eye as blood poured out of it around the silver blade of the knife he had used to kill Aleyn. The knife he would've used to kill me, had he had the chance.

Had it been up to me, I would have tortured Finley further for all the pain and deaths he had caused.

But behind me, Nick croaked, "Aly, just kill him."

I glanced back from the pained Finley to the near-death Gryffindor boy behind me. One finger slipped off of the rail. Then another.

"Mr. Potter!" I yelled to the ex-Auror, who was sheathing his famous holly wand. "Help him!"

Then, relishing the sweet justice that flowed through my veins like freedom, I stabbed Finley in the heart.

He convulsed for a moment, but I forced the knife in deeper, buried it into his barrel chest all the way up to his hilt, and turned it to the side to hasten the passing. Just as Harry Potter pulled a trembling Nick up over the railing, Finley's eyes rolled up into his head and finally, _finally_ , I didn't have to worry about him any more.

"I guess I'm not yours anymore," I snapped at his corpse, a light grin spreading across my face. I didn't taste blood at that moment. I tasted liberty.

Nick sidled up to me, barely sparing a glance for the pile of dust that he had turned the once-beautiful Eve-Charlotte into. He took my clenched hand, the one that was still tightly clutching the knife embedded in Finley's heart, and gently loosed my tight fingers. He squeezed my hand in his for a moment- I thought _Typical Justice_ and rolled my eyes- before slipping something cold and hard into my palm. It was Damien's tiny glass bottle of Felix Felicis. The tyrant had only taken about an eighth of the liquid, and it looked like Nick and Harry had taken some sips too. About half was left- the bottle was only about an ounce large, so I guessed there was about a tablespoon left. The potion shimmered like melted gold as I examined it, tilting the vial in the dying rays of sun from the high, arched windows.

"That stuff really is wonderful," Nick said, longingly gazing at the potion.

I smiled at him, finding myself more patient with the Gryffindor boy than normal.

"I took some in my sixth year," Harry Potter agreed, joining us. His robes were black like ours, but bore no Hogwarts or House crest- instead, the silver circle logo of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement shined brightly over his chest. Plus, the robes were far longer and had a completely different style of collar than our school robes, and he wore a buttoned-up brown trench coat and grey slacks beneath them. An Auror uniform for the Department Head. "It got my friends and I through a Death Eater attack on Hogwarts. Very useful stuff." He offered his hand to Nick and me. "I'm Harry Potter, by the way." _As if we didn't recognize that lightning scar._ "Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Nick took the offered hand and shook it eagerly. "I can't believe I'm meeting you, sir- the Boy who Lived- I've heard all about you- your portrait's in Gryffindor Tower and everything- I heard we get to study the Second Wizarding War more thoroughly in our sixth year of History of Magic- I'm Gryffindor Seeker too, sir, and-"

" _Nick_ ," I hissed. "We're in the middle of a _war_ here!"

Harry smiled fondly, as if remembering a similar memory. Nick turned beet red, stopped rambling, and extracted his hand from the pounding handshake. "Right."

The ex-Auror turned to me. "And you must be Alyssa Salinger, since those people wanted to hurt you so much."

I cast a despairing glance at Finley, then immediately wished I hadn't, as Aleyn's lifeless body lay just behind his. Remorse flooded through me, and gratitude too. "Yes, sir. Thank you so much for coming to our aid."

"I think we should be thanking _you_ , and your friends too, Miss Salinger," Mr. Potter said professionally, nodding. "If I understood the letter your owl brought correctly, it was you and seven other girls who came up with this counter-curse. I'm sorry about your owl, by the way."

Thinking of Peltie brought a fresh wave of sadness to my mind. I pushed it away and shook my head. "It was really coincidence, and dumb luck too. Without getting chosen as Damien's protégé, I wouldn't have had the opportunities I did to spy on Damien, distract him, _or_ help the rebels."

A crash sounded from nearby, and then voices. Nick, Mr. Potter, and I all froze just as the doors to the library slammed open below us. In rushed Niamh, Melissa, Mari, Lorie, Nate, and Reuben, closely followed by a third-year girl with a head of blonde corkscrew curls. It was the star Slytherin seeker from the year before, a girl named Anise Cheverell. Come to think of Anise, I hadn't seen much of her all year, and was pleasantly surprised to find her alive and on our side.

"They're not in here," Reuben commented. His flat, elongated American accent was a welcome and familiar music to my ears. "But the tracking spell led right here!"

"Nice job, _I-can-track-Aly-I-swear_ ," mocked Anise, tossing her golden curls.

"Nate!" Nick yelled, and before I knew it he was sliding down the bannister of the stairs onto the first floor with a huge grin on his face and throwing his arms around his mate. "I thought you were dead, mate!"

Nate laughed a deep laugh and hugged him back. "Don't worry, Nicky, I'm still very much alive." His face darkened. "Art, Katy, Maile, Kevin, and Sami are down, though. And didn't Aleyn and Aly leave with you?"

"I'm up here," I called down, hurrying to descend the steps. Harry Potter followed me, wand out as I stuck the Felix Felicis in my pocket. "Aleyn is dead, and so is Sunny."

Mari's face fell. She was Hufflepuff, just as Sunny and Aleyn had been. "Ivan and Ms. Prince will be devastated," she murmured.

I reached the floor and patted her shoulder. "Ivan died protecting his sister. He may have followed Damien, but he had a good heart in the end."

"And Aleyn?" challenged Niamh, also a Hufflepuff, as she stepped forward. It was only then that I spotted the tiny figure of red and white in her fluffy dark hair- Tamsin, still shrunken from Aleyn's potion. I hid a giggle- _a real giggle!_ "How did _he_ die?"

I dropped my gaze to the floor, littered with books and desks and (now) human bodies. "He… well, he…"

Nick interjected, arm still slung casually over Nate's shoulders. Nate was easily the tallest in the room, taller than Mr. Potter even, and although Nick was tall his mate was still quite a bit taller. This made it a chore for my cocky friend, who seemed to be regaining his arrogance now that he was out of any imminent danger. "Finley threw a knife into his throat. But don't worry- Aly stabbed Finley with that same knife to avenge him."

I met Nick's turquoise gaze across the room, just a shade lighter than Aleyn's dead eyes, and he winked. Aleyn had died protecting me and Nick knew it; but Nick had helped save me from Will's bullying and shunning last year, and he would stop that from possibly happening again now.

 _And of course Nick will think I stabbed Finley because of Aleyn. He doesn't know about that night last Christmas… right? Did I let slip about it while I was taunting Finley? I can't remember. Everything seems hazy. If I did, is he protecting me from letting that get out, too? Or am I just imagining things?_

As Niamh wiped a tear from her eye, I decided that I must have just been misremembering things.

I then turned to itty-bitty Tamsin. "Hey, I've been wondering something. How did Damien find you?"

Tamsin started to say something in her squeaky voice, but Nick interrupted once again. "It was Tadghi," he spat, a sour look on his face. "That backstabbing little elf went behind our backs and told Damien where we were hiding, then went so far as to leave the door open for him today when he came to clean the Room of Requirement."

This shocked me. "But didn't Tadghi hate Damien because his brother was killed?"

"He blamed Nick for the death of his brother," Lorie explained softly. "He thought Nick had told Damien to kill him."

"As if Damien would _ever_ listen to _you_ , mate," Nate chuckled, elbowing his friend in the side.

Nick still looked like he was sucking on a lemon. "He told Damien Bekka had helped us, and he stabbed her with a knife. I don't know if she's dead or not."

Mari's face grew grave. "That's one of the reasons we're here, actually. Nathan and Rossalene are outside the library tending to her. She's dying."

Nick let out a cry of pain and grabbed Nate's arm, hurt and panic and loss flooding his eyes.

"It was one of her requests to see both you and Aly before she died," Lorie mumbled.

Nick tore for the doors.

Bekka, outside, was wrapped in a fluffy Hufflepuff scarf, although at first I thought it was Gryffindor because it was stained with so much blood. Ross hovered around her, casting charms to slow the bleeding and keep the motherly house-elf comfortable, while Nathan cradled her in his arms. Nick went straight to his best mate and scooped Bekka into his embrace, tears streaming down his face. I felt my own tears prick at the backs of my eyes, hot and stinging.

"Oh, Bekka, no," Nick wept into the scarf. "You can't leave us. You can't leave me."

Bekka reached up, and with tiny, crooked fingers she stroked his wet cheek. The scarf fell aside, revealing a gaping and bloody wound that bared intestines and organs to the cold air. I winced, and Niamh threw up behind me in a crevice.

"Kufi," Bekka whispered. Her bossy voice was hoarse and crackly and hurt my ears to hear. "Kufi will feed Nicholas for Bekka, until he leaves. And someday there will be a girl to feed Nicholas all of his good food and his chocolate gateau."

"Bekka," Nick sobbed. "Please."

"It is Bekka's time," the house-elf scolded him softly. "Bekka's time to go. She will see Nicholas again someday, in another life. Promise Bekka that Nicholas will find a girl to feed him, so that he does not starve."

"I promise," Nick cried, linking his big fingers with Bekka's tiny ones. Dark skin on pale skin. Knobby fingers big and small entwined together in a mother-son embrace. "I promise, Bekka."

Then Bekka's big brown eyes turned to me, and I felt like a spotlight had been shone at my face. Her eyes were wet with tears, just like everyone else's present. "Alyssa saved them," she whispered. "Alyssa broke the spell and freed them. Alyssa did not fail."

A fat teardrop rolled down my cheek. "Yes, Bekka. You were right. I didn't fail."

Then Bekka was back to focusing on the boy she had chosen as an adopted human son, from the day he first came to visit her. I could see in her eyes dozens of memories of chocolate gateaus and pots of tea and jokes and Nick's own turquoise eyes as her gaze dulled.

"Nicholas," she murmured. "Nicholas."

Then she finally went limp in his arms.

" _No!_ " Nick screamed, finally breaking. He shook the tiny house-elf's body in his arms, willing her to wake up. " _Bekka!_ Bekka, _please!_ "

Nathan hugged him then, calming him down, pleading with him to stop screaming, until finally the two boys huddled together in one big weeping heap over the body of the motherly house-elf that had loved them.

From behind me, Mr. Potter cleared his throat. I turned, and his green eyes were wet with tears. I saw similarity in those eyes to my own, both in color and in sadness and in dangers lived through. "She will be given a proper funeral, having died in this war," he murmured. "Has Professor Kayash been arrested yet?"

"That's the other reason why we're here," Lorie voiced quietly. She cast a nervous glance at me. "He's taken five people hostage and is threatening to kill them unless he can speak to you, Aly." He swears that then he'll go quietly and release the prisoners."

I stared into Lorie's quiet, intelligent blue eyes, half-hidden behind a curtain of white-blonde hair and filled with tears just like mine. And then I knew what she had meant, what she had understood, what she had seen, even if no one else had.

Damien would see me.

He would kill me.

And then, _only then_ , would he "go quietly".

 **I understand that it was rushed. I meant to give Bekka a better death, I swear. I'm so sorry.**

 **~atrfla**


	24. Chapter 24: Duelling Damien

**So as I expected, I got a lot of backlash for killing Bekka last chapter. Do you all remember how devastated we were after Fred's death in** ** _Deathly Hallows_** **? J.K.R. killed him to prove war is random. War can kill anyone, including beloved pets, including only one twin, and** ** _including_** **a beloved, motherly house-elf. I didn't plan to kill her, if that helps. It just sort of wrote itself. And yes, I miss her too.**

 **On the bright side, wish a happy birthday to our very own beloved character Shawnee Haven! September 15th, people. And let's get excited because this story's almost done!**

Zola Greene.

Lenore Hobbes.

Eric Montgomery.

Kitty Willis.

Helen MacDougal.

Those were the five people trapped inside a pulsating dome of white light- a smaller, more visible barrier curse. Kitty was holding Lenore- a Gryffindor first-year with her same blonde hair- in her arms, rocking her back and forth as the younger girl sobbed into my old Quidditch captain's robes. Zola and Eric sat still as statues, Zola gazing at her brother- on the fringes of a crowd of students, weeping and flailing for her as he was held back by a few of his friends (it was the first time I'd ever seen Will act truly human)- and Eric watching a pile of dead corpses on the floor as if they might get up and move around normally at any moment (they didn't). Following his eyes, I spotted Art, Kevin, Kira, and Annie in the pile, all staring blankly at nothingness with dead dark eyes. My heart twisted in my chest. _Art's with Liana now, Annie with Zach, and Kira with Lindsey. Did Kevin have any loved ones die this year? Did he even have loved ones at this school? I can't remember, but maybe they're happier now…_

A hand caught my arm, brown and thick with long, jagged nails. I turned to see Oscar's dark eyes, haunted with the deaths of so many students and friends that he would never be able to unsee.

"The Werewolf Code of Conduct was developed in the year sixteen-thirty-seven, but almost no werewolves signed it," he whispered urgently, nearly-black eyes boring into mine. Black and green. Green and black. "Those with hawthorn wands walk a precarious balance between life and death."

He slipped something long and supple into my hand. I put it in my pocket without looking at it as Reuben tugged on my sleeve, pulling me away from Oscar. I took a look at the American boy's face as we walked through the crowds. His eyes were sunken, cheekbones prominent, face deathly white. He knew he was marching me to my demise, and it was most likely tearing him apart. Reuben was not the kind of person to take death lightly.

But now I understood his eagerness to find me and bring me back to Damien Kayash. Kitty was in danger. Zach would have sacrificed anything to save Kitty- he had even given up his own live trying to preserve hers- and until that instant I had not known that Reuben felt the same way.

Damien was flanked by two Aurors, all facing away from me, as the dethroned tyrant directed the fluctuating barrier with his wand. He turned as I approached, crowd backing away in terror, and grinned that familiar, toothy, _evil_ smile. "Alyssa, my traitorous child. Fancy seeing you again."

I snapped at him, "I'm not your _child_."

One of his icy eyes twitched. Reuben let go of my sleeve and backed away, teary blue eyes still stuck on Kitty. My neighbor looked up and they locked eyes. Kitty mouthed something, but Damien was speaking, and I turned my attention back to him. "Ah, but you _are_ , Alyssa. We are one and the same soul, you and I. I hear from a dearly deceased follower that you murdered Finley Denton in quite a… _cruel_ … way."

My body went cold. _How does he know about that? Is he just bluffing?_

"Aly's not the same as _you!_ " someone yelled. I turned to look at- of all people- Nathan Price. His pudgy face was dark maroon and still streaked with tears, his hands clenched into tight fists. Nick stood beside him, still hugging Bekka's dead body as if he refused to believe she was well and truly gone, too worried for his adoptive house-elf mother to think about me. "Aly will never be like you! You're a _murderer!_ "

"Ah, but did you not hear what I said?" Damien grinned at my ex-boyfriend. "Alyssa Salinger too is a murderer." He enunciated every word clearly, as if he wasn't sure people would hear him otherwise. "A knife to the eye and a knife to the chest for my perfect new protégé, if the rumor mill is true, of course." He pierced me with his cold, almost dead gaze. "But I forgive you, my child. Come here, so I may caress your face one final time before I go to prison for eternity."

The last word echoed throughout the dead silent Hall. Frozen, I slowly shook my head. "No. I don't want you to touch me."

"Miss Salinger," said one of the Aurors beside him, looking at me with grey eyes, "it is his last wish before he goes to prison. We really can't refuse him this."

"He thinks of you as a child," the second Auror added. "If your father was going off to prison for the rest of his life, wouldn't you want to hug him one last time?"

Their tones were flat, and it should've tipped me off at the time that they were being controlled by Damien, but I didn't realize that. Still feeling rather uncertain, I stepped towards the deposed emperor as both Aurors gestured me forward.

I was five feet away when Damien attacked.

The two Aurors went flying through the air, landing on their necks with sickening _crack_ s. It was only then that I made the connection between Damien's love for the Imperius Curse and their lifeless voices, and I spun in horror to run just in time to see Oscar leap for me, ready to tackle me to the ground, to save me from a curse.

Just as Oscar's fingertips brushed my shoulder, a white barrier flickered into existence around Damien and me, slicing into my strange Ravenclaw friend's body. I screamed. Oscar fell to the floor, bleeding from many gashes. His eyes, lighter than I'd ever seen them, caught mine… and he smiled.

 _Hawthorn_ , he mouthed.

By the time I pulled Oscar's hawthorn wand, nearly as long and brown as mine, from my pocket, all of the life had gone from his dark eyes.

I put my own wand in my pocket and turned to face Damien. It was eerily silent inside the deathly bubble of Damien's creation, although I could see the mouths of students and Ministry workers alike moving furiously through the fogginess of the white barrier as they crowded around it, careful not to touch the stuff. Kingsley Shacklebolt raised his wand, dislodging the purple hat upon his greying dark hair, to take the barrier down and rescue me.

"Do not dare!" Damien roared to him, gesturing to the barrier that held the five captured students. Apparently people outside of the barrier could hear things happening inside it, because the Minister of Magic stopped midair. "If you dare take down this barrier, I swear on the memory of Salazar Slytherin and all of his descendants that the last thing I do will be to kill those five prisoners there!"

As if reacting to his fury, the globe holding Kitty, Eric, Helen, Lenore, and Zola shrank a foot. Helen's toes were now inches from the white fogginess. She pulled it back, her mouth opening in a silent, terrified cry, and the prisoners huddled together even more, watching the fog that could kill them all at any instant.

Slowly, Damien's enemies backed away from the barrier surrounding me and the tyrant.

"Do you want to kill me?" I shouted at my ex-Astronomy professor, gripping Oscar's thick, crooked wand in my wand hand. "Is that what you want?"

"No," Damien sneered. "I want you to go with me."

We began circling each other like sharks just waiting to strike, wands at the ready but completely unused.

"You belong in Azkaban just the same as I do," hissed the tyrant. "And I will not rest until you and I have adjoining cells in Azkaban, and I can feed on your screams as the damp and the dark strips you of your disloyal shred of a soul." His lip curled in a cruel sneer. "It's a pity that dementors don't inhabit that prison anymore. Perhaps some arrangements could be made."

I gripped Oscar's wand tighter. That was not what he wanted and I knew it. Deep down, all Damien wanted was for me to die before he did. I had betrayed him, and due to that he craved the vision of my lifeless eyes. But I wouldn't die. _He_ would. And I knew it because I had friends with me.

I had Oscar's hawthorn wand.

I had Aleyn's protection.

I had Bekka's love.

I had love and friendship on my side, and all he had was terror.

And, best of all, I had a small vial half-full of a golden liquid from Nick in my pocket.

I smiled.

And with that, I made the first and only move.

I didn't cast a charm.

I didn't throw a spell.

I didn't charge or curse or criticize Damien.

No, I drew the bottle of Felix Felicis from my pocket, uncorked it, and put the potion to my lips.

Damien realized what I was doing too late, and he barreled toward me with a feral scream, dropping his swishy blackthorn wand as he did so. "That's _mine!_ "

Time slowed down as he approached, getting closer, closer, _closer_. Then a small voice spoke in my head.

 _Not yet_ , it said.

 _Not yet._

I had a horrible feeling that if I disobeyed the voice and moved, something very, very bad would happen to me. So I stayed. I saw Damien, in slow motion, draw a knife from the sleeve of his Headmaster's robes and raise it high over his head, to split me in two with the sharp blade.

I closed my eyes.

 _Duck_ , urged the voice. _Duck now!_

So I ducked.

Joyful and relieved shouts and cheers filled my ears like a refreshing rainstorm of sound, and I opened my eyes to see two barriers of fog dissipate into the air. Some people headed straight for the newly freed prisoners- Millie, Will, Reuben, some of the Aurors, for instance- but most of my fellow students and the Ministry workers rushed me. Brooklyn helped me to my feet with a slender tan hand and gathered me into a tight hug that squeezed all the breath from my lungs.

"You did it, Aly," she cried into my ear, a grin splitting her face. "You saved us all!"

I looked down as Brooklyn was shoved away and replaced with Lanie and Shawnee. My two short friends grasped me in tight squeezes from either side, and I looked down.

Blood poured from the thousands of tiny cuts decorating Damien's body, as well as from his mouth and nose. The tips of his fingers were stained with red, and his eyes were filled with blood, ice-blue turned scarlet in death.

Eli Lupin crawled through the crowd's feet, hair restored to brilliant white, and felt the side of Damien's neck. For one terrible moment, a chill shivered down my spine. _Eli- has he actually been a follower of Damien all along? I thought that they were all dead!_

But no! Eli leaped to his feet, accidentally knocking Lanie aside as his white hair flopped over his forehead in a grown-out bowl cut. "He's dead!" he howled in delight, feeling freedom that I knew and understood. "Damien is finally _deeeaaadddd!_ "

The whole Hall cheered and jumped in celebration and liberation. Kitty and Reuben, both flushed and happy, pushed through the crowd and hoisted me up onto their shoulders. From my higher viewpoint, I saw people hugging, sobbing in relief, and even kissing. Conor Mathieson seized about eight girls who were standing around him, one at a time of course, and pecked each of them on the cheek. I laughed deliriously, blood pumping, remembering my silly crush on Conor from years before. Then I saw that one of the kissed girls had long wavy dark hair and dark tanned skin. It was Brooklyn, who had somehow been pushed away from me, and she was blushing to the root of her core. I smirked at my embarrassed cousin from my position atop the shoulders of the two remaining Chasers from last year as I was paraded out of the Hall and into one of the small corridors around the Great Hall.

Kitty and Reuben set me down there and went back inside. I caught a glimpse of their linked hands and recoiled in shock. _Zach would feel so betrayed…_

A large dark hand landed on my shoulder before I could ponder Reuben and Kitty's newfound relationship, and I whirled around, still spooked from the not-really-a-duel duel.

Kingsley Shacklebolt smiled down at me, purple robes and hat all neatly back in place. "Miss Salinger," he said in a deep voice. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the Heroine of Hogwarts in a more civilized location."

I flushed red. "I wouldn't say I'm a _heroine_ -"

"But that's what they're calling you," he interrupted gently, leading me away from the door towards the front of Hogwarts. "Alyssa Salinger, the Heroine of Hogwarts. One of my top ex-Aurors, Harry Potter- you may have heard of him- has even recommended you for a few top honors. The Medal for Magical Merit, for one. The Special Award for Services to the School." A big smile took over his dark face. "I've even decided that you will join the ranks of those exceptional witches and wizards with an Order of Merlin, First Class- should you decide to accept all these marks of distinction, that is."

 _What? Order of Merlin, First Class is only awarded to those who perform outstanding acts of bravery or distinction in magic._

 _All I did was duck._

With a gasp, I realized exactly why I was being offered all of these medals.

 _The Felix Felicis._

The Minister of Magic apparently took my hesitation and gasp as uncertainty, because he continued to speak. "You would be the first witch to win that prestigious award in over one hundred years, you know," he pressed. "I believe the last one was Tilly Toke in nineteen-thirty-two for helping to cover up the Ilfracombe Incident."

The out-of-place fact reminded me of the wand in my hand. I looked down at the dark brown hawthorn stick, the same color as Oscar's dead eyes, with its crooked tip and thick, firm handle patterned with wavy lines.

Oscar's last fun fact had been about those with hawthorn wands. What had he said? Something about walking near death?

 _Death_.

"I would be honored to receive even one of those awards Minister," I accepted, enunciating each word properly, my mind clearer than it had been in months. "But first I have a request. May I please see the dead?"

 **Ahhhh. One chapter left! Please, please,** ** _please_** **review so I can know your thoughts on this chapter! I'm looking forward to your reviews!**

 **~atrfla**


	25. Chapter 25: Epilogue

**Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, Muggles and Squibs, I present to you... the very last chapter of the second installment of my beloved Salinger Year series,** ** _Fourth Year_** **!**

 _Dear Aly,_

 _I start my first psychotherapy session today. I can't believe Hogwarts actually paid for hundreds of therapy sessions. It's probably the nicest the school has ever been to us, eh? But hey, they were the ones who appointed Damien Headmaster in the first place and started all this trauma._

 _I have the same psychotherapist as Leja, and Leja hates her. This should be fun. Did you hear that Leja's parents said that if one more dangerous thing happened at Hogwarts, they'd take her out of school? I don't think that's fair at all!_

 _Conor wrote me to apologize for randomly kissing me when Damien died. I did tell you about that, right? He kissed me on the cheek when you outsmarted Damien. I think it was sort of nice of him to apologize, don't you? The Aly from years ago would have been so jealous! Remember that?_

 _Libby says hello and claims she cried when Peltie died. I believe her. She also wants to know when you're getting a new pet and if it'll be an owl, cat, or toad. Knowing you, it won't be a toad. I might get one if, Merlin forbid, Maycott ever passes on. (I'm so glad owls can't read right now, else I'd have an owl uprising on my hands.) They're not as gross as you think._

 _Did you hear? We're hosting Christmas this year! I know that we got to have Christmas at the Black manor our first year, and I know you went to your other grandparents' house in our second or maybe third year, but you haven't been to our house for the holidays since we were barely a year old! I don't even remember way back then._

 _How do you think you did on exams? It was pretty sweet that they let us Side-Along Apparate home once we were done, but that means I didn't get to talk to you after exams. I'm positive I failed the Care of Magical Creatures exam. That's never been my forte, and honestly, who has time to memorize the life cycle of a unicorn when Hogwarts is being inhabited by an evil tyrant and his student army? No one, that's who._

 _Write back soon. It's only been a week and I already miss you._

 _Love,_

 _Brooklyn_

* * *

 _Dear Brooklyn:_

 _I'm so sorry I didn't reply for so long! I haven't had a spare moment since the day I got your letter, what with the therapy sessions and all the medal ceremonies and stuff. But don't worry, Maycott's been well taken care of. I still had a bunch of Owl Treats left over, and between Maycott, Addison, and Geoffrey, they've exhausted my supply._

 _I don't like my therapist. She tries to pick my brain on the daily. But Mum seems to like her, and she swears to me that I've become much less moody and jumpy since my sessions started. Did you end up liking your therapist or not?_

 _I hope Leja gets to stay at Hogwarts. Class wouldn't be the same without her incredible sarcasm, and the halls of Hogwarts would dearly miss her dancing from class to class. Where would she go if not Hogwarts? Charm School? I don't think they let people in who are Hogwarts-age. The Salem Witches' Institute, in America? Uagadou, in Africa? Mahoutokoro, the Japanese school for wizardry and witchcraft? I think they'd worship her at Mahoutokoro, since she has a cherrywood wand. Her wand_ is _cherrywood, right?_

 _You're right, the Side-Along Apparition was fun, but I don't ever want to do that again! I got sick when we did it and threw up in the neighbor's bushes once we had landed. I felt bad for the bushes, and for the Auror who had to deal with me. But as for exams, I don't think I did too badly on them, except for Astronomy. I'll never be able to learn that subject properly ever again. All I'll be able to think of is Damien and Katy and… you understand. I got so distracted during the written portion that I think I mixed up Venus and Mars, and I couldn't even complete the star chart during the practical! Mum was furious when I told her, of course, but I think she's going to be quite forgiving this summer after all we went through this past year. Of course, when everything returns to normal so will she, I just know it. That's all right, though. I missed her concerned weekly letters this year. Speaking of Mum, did you read that famous Daily Prophet front-page article she wrote on the homecoming of the Hogwarts students? I hear sales jumped once they promoted her to the front page! No one writes quite like my mother!_

 _I saw Conor kiss you- I guess telling you slipped my mind. I really don't like him anymore, but I must admit that the apology was pretty proper of him to do. People have gotten arrested for kissing others who didn't want to be kissed, you know._

 _Tell Libby that I might get a cat this year. I know Dad doesn't like them, but I might be able to persuade him or Mum into letting me buy one. I heard that the fluffy white cat- you know, the one from the Magical Menagerie who's been there for ages and always sits on top of the counter to be petted?- had kittens while we were trapped at Hogwarts. They ought to be pretty big now, and if they're anything like their mother, quite social- I'm so excited!_

 _I also now can't wait for Christmas! Is the time capsule we hid when we were little still behind the wall in your room? I know we said we'd take it out when we turned of age, but maybe we'd best open it this winter! Rowena knows we've been through enough to have quite enough memories._

 _One last thing, Brooklyn- I was at the ceremony to receive my Order of Merlin, First Class (it's green, by the way, you'd like it- Mum has it hidden away in the attic but I'll take it out when next you come to visit) and Minister Shacklebolt let slip a little bit of information. Everyone who went to Hogwarts this year is going to be awarded a new medal called the Prize for Prime Perseverance in Peril. I know, it's a mouthful- I spit all over Addison the first time I said it out loud, and I don't think I've ever gotten such a dirty look from an owl. Anyway, you and Libby should receive your invitations to the award ceremony any day now. I can't wait to see you there, but I might have to leave early for therapy sessions. I miss you!_

 _Love,_

 _Aly_

* * *

 _Dear Aly:_

 _That award ceremony was a blast! Thank you for letting me know about the award ceremony ahead of time- I warned Mother, and she had a camera to capture the look on Libby's face when the invitations arrived via owl. It was priceless. You know that's going to be her Christmas ornament photo this year. Try opening your mouth as wide as it can go, curling your lips inwards, and opening your eyes really wide- that's basically how it looked._

 _I know you had to leave early for therapy, but you missed the best part! Everyone got one minute to share what the most important thing they did this year was. Of course, yours was killing Damien, so you probably wouldn't have been invited to speak anyway, but you still missed all the rest of the stories. Mine were helping to get the letter to the Ministry (I had to do some serious distraction in order to get a stray third-year Damien-follower to stop guarding the exit doors during fourth session and not get caught, so that was impressive) and, of course, revealing to the other fourth-years that you weren't a spy. We all know that that's what started the revolution, really- when it turned out you were on our side all along. Nick claimed that writing_ Eat Dung, Damien _on the wall outside of the Room of Requirement was his greatest feat- that story got a lot of laughs. Lynne got a standing ovation for evacuating the littler kids to France- there were even a few Beauxbatons witches attending as personal guests of some third years they'd befriended during the evacuations, and they clapped loudest of all. Whoever came up with the stereotype that Beauxbatons witches are dainty and fragile needs to shove it up their arse, because those were some hardy girls. My hands were stinging when we sat down and theirs weren't even so much as red._

 _I got to hear stories I'd never heard before during that- did you know that Kira managed to get rid of both Lachlan and Peggy before Katy killed her? I can't believe Kira managed to kill a sixth-year! Talk about some excellent spellwork! And Rossalene apparently took down those two burly Slytherin seventh-years- I think the taller one's name was Max and I forget the shorter one's name, but do you remember the ones that blocked your way out of the Great Hall on the day of the Final Battle? That was them- with some plants from the greenhouses, including the old Venomous Tentacula! She was so excited to share the story, and everyone was so proud of her._

 _(Libby's still in shock after getting to meet Harry Potter himself. I still think he's a bit more idolized by the media than he ought to be, but that might just be because we're from rival Houses even though he's graduated. I do have to admit that coming to our rescue even though he's retired from being an Auror was a pretty sweet move on his part.)_

 _Moving on, I'm sorry you don't like your therapist, but mine is amazingly useful. She snuck me three Pumpkin Pasties during my last visit, since I told her Mother despises them and I hadn't had any since the train ride to Hogwarts last summer. I can't understand why Leja doesn't like her- I bumped into Alexandra Zobrist during the ceremony (I always seem to end up with her, Lyndsay, Tommy, and Melissa- Sami when she was alive, too- since all of our last names are alphabetically sorted quite late) and it turns out that we have the same therapist. Alexandra even said she liked Ms. Sorge so much that she wants to study to become a wizarding psychotherapist. It's the perfect profession for her, really. I just wonder what exactly you have to get O.W.L.s in to become one._

 _And really, Aly, stop feeding Maycott so many Owl Treats! He's coming back fatter than ever and spoiled to a tee. Father says too many treats are bad for him, so please, stop._

 _Also, you must be mad if you think Leja's going to Mahoutokoro if she leaves Hogwarts. Leja's mum went to Beauxbatons, her father Durmstrang. It's a miracle they ever managed to decide on Hogwarts for Leja and Marcus. She definitely wouldn't be going to any other foreign place like America or Africa. Anyway, doesn't Lea have a cherrywood wand too?_

 _You're ridiculous, by the way. If you think for one ludicrous second that you failed any course, let alone Astronomy, your brain's been addled by this past year and you know it! I understand what you mean, though. It'll never be the same in Astronomy again, especially with that witch Professor Turner teaching the class. I hear she was a Slytherin during her time as a Hogwarts student- as if she could ever be sophisticated enough to be a snake! Only the best make it into_ my _house._

 _I have a list of names you can name your kitten once you get it. For instance, I've always thought Willow was a lovely name, if it's a girl. Or maybe a flower name like Lily or Rose or Bougainvillea, "Bug" for short. Then again, I know how much you like weird names- Peltie enough was proof of that! So maybe something like Hollyberry or Dauncey or Fernunculus would appear more to you. I can't be sure. (Just remember that_ Fernunculus _is also a curse if you pronounce it wrong- although it would be pretty funny to watch you accidentally hex someone every time you call your cat's name.)_

 _Don't write me back until you've gotten that cat or else Libby might seriously injure me. Not that I couldn't take her in a duel or even a Muggle fight, but I'd get in heaps of trouble if I so much as harmed one scarlet hair on her pompous little head!_

 _Love,_

 _Brooklyn_

* * *

 _Dear Brooklyn:_

 _Enclosed is a picture of the newest addition to the Salinger family. His name is Dauncey, like you suggested, and he's already tried to eat Geoffrey twice. He tried that on Addison, too, but Addison nipped his nose so hard he fell off of Mum's desk. Landed on his feet, of course. I think they'll all end up getting along just fine when I'm home for the summers!_

 _I have a question. Do you have any photos of any of the dead? Or any stories about any of them- the Ryalls, the Hensons, even Katy or Maile? My therapist suggested an idea for an end-of-summer project that I think you'll like to see once I'm finished._

 _Sorry this letter is short and I haven't been able to write you lately. I've had to go to Helen's every day this week since Mum is overprotective and she's been getting called into work a lot more recently, and you know how Helen is. I went shopping last week and I wanted to read over_ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five _, but no, all she wanted to do was read_ Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches _and guess which boys from school have been using the "12 fail-safe ways to charm witches" on her this past year. I love Helen dearly, but she really needs to go find some new hobbies._

 _Love,_

 _Aly_

 _P.S. Don't worry, I didn't feed Maycott too many owl treats this time._

* * *

"That's a lie, of course," I whispered to Maycott, tossing him another Owl Treat. Who was I to resist his wishes?

Maycott caught the treat and hooted at me grumpily, like it hadn't tasted quite good enough. I shrugged at him apologetically- that had been my last one- and sealed the letter to Brooklyn with Mum's wax Ministry seal, which I'd filched from her desk before replying to my oldest cousin's latest letter. Luckily, Mum had been cooking dinner for the last twenty minutes, so she hadn't even noticed it was gone.

I affixed the letter to Maycott's black leg with some twine and glanced at my new black-and-white kitten Dauncey, who was curled up and sleeping soundly on my biggest blue pillow. He was growing abnormally fast- only a year and he was already almost a full-sized tomcat. In just the last week I swore his tail had grown an inch. I adored the stupidly friendly cat. He'd taken a shine to my father and left cat hair all over his clothes, provoking fits of sneezing from my parents' room early every morning- who knew my dad was allergic to cat hair?

"Aly!" my mum called for the second time. She had always preferred to call me by my given name, but after explaining that Damien had called me Alyssa, she had been referring to me as Aly more and more. "It's time for supper. Do I have to come up there and get you myself?"

"Coming, Mum," I shouted out my door, opening the window for Maycott. I hadn't written to Brooklyn since mid-July, the week after the awards ceremony for the Prize for Prime Perseverance in Peril, and it was now almost August. I hoped she wasn't too angry at me.

As I turned from the still-open window to my door, expecting to go down the stairs into the kitchen, my eye caught on a stack of papers on my small desk by my blue-sheeted bed. Without reading them, I knew what they each said. The top one was a letter I'd gotten from Professor Fourier- now deemed _Headmaster_ Fourier after the Wizengamot declared his "support of the Wizarding traitor Damien Kayash" and "unlawful actions against children and wizardkind" the results of an Imperius Curse, therefore proving him- and every other teacher at Hogwarts- innocent of any crimes.

 _Alyssa:_

 _Thank you for your congratulations on my newly established position. I look forward to the coming year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and promise that I will do my very best to make this school year as safe and normal as possible._

 _As for your request, please let it be known that the Wizengamot, as well as the esteemed faculty of Hogwarts, would deny this request to all but those who had a part in this past year at school. Therefore, we at Hogwarts ask of you to please never share this list of deceased with anyone else. We would like to keep an allusion of privacy towards the media._

 _Enclosed is your requested material, as well as your list of supplies for this coming year. I hear you did quite well on exams, so I expect to see you prepared and bright-eyed at the start-of-term feast this year on Thursday, September 1_ _st_ _, 2044!_

 _Sincerely,_

 ** _Colm Fourier_**

 _Colm Fourier_

 _Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

The second paper was my 'requested material': a list of all who had died during the 2043-2044 school year, Damien-followers and rebels alike, from Alexei Alby and Hamish Blackwood to Vincent Winters, Arthur Wood, Samira Wright and George Yap. It was even alphabetized.

 _Thank you, Professor- er,_ Headmaster- _Fourier!_

The rest of the papers were my creations. From the smallest of first-year Damien-followers to the oldest of rebel seventh-years, I was in the process of collecting photos and stories of each and every person who had died. For instance, I had a photo of Lachlan Hargreve sticking his tongue out goofily at the camera that I'd gotten from his older sister Laessy, a story that Cher had told me about Maile's first flying lesson at Hogwarts, and even a photo of Eve-Charlotte messing about with the streamers on Damien Day that someone had found in a dead Damien-follower's camera. No one would be easily forgotten- I would see to that. In fact, all who had died would be remembered in the best light possible, if I had any say in it.

And, of course, they would be remembered by Hogwarts students for centuries to come. There was a photo, a still one for once, at the very bottom of that stack of papers. It showed a very special location in the school. Outside on the laws, near the wall where I had buried Zach, Carter, and everyone who'd perished before the Final Battle, now lay fifty-five graves, complete with gravestones of white marble. Each gravestone had its corpse's name, dates of birth and death, in what event they had been murdered, and a lovely little saying. Some families wanted their dead at their home plots, as I'd supposed they would- so Margaret, Katy, Eve-Charlotte, and both Ryall siblings went home to be buried. Everyone else, however, stayed at the school. Siblings and friends, Housemates and roommates, classmates and enemies were buried side by side in a spectacular mass funeral. As I was not family of any of the dead, I of course received no invite to the burials. But I heard through Lyndsay, who thanks to therapy with the therapist we shared was definitely regaining her cheerful and bright demeanor, that Nellie, Raj, Annie, and Sunny's four graves were lined up beautifully in one big row, with Ash, Zach, and Ivan all close by to their younger sisters.

Damien received no such resting place. Had he abided by the laws of wizardkind and gone quietly to Azkaban, he would have died there eventually; therefore, that ended up being his burial site. No one attended _that_ funeral. No one wanted to, and he didn't deserve a nice ceremony anyway.

I banished all thoughts of Damien Kayash, ex-Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a tyrant who had killed child after child, a dictator who thought himself a king and died for it, from my head and headed for the door.

 _It's all over now._

I slid down the banister of the stairs of my perfectly normal and safe home, landing with a loud _thump_ in the sea-blue foyer. I could smell dinner, fresh and warm and hinting at a smell of potatoes, in my nose. I could hear my father, recently arrived home from Ministry work, as he teased my mother in the kitchen and tried to steal a kiss. I could feel the warm London summer breeze, infiltrating my house through the window I'd left open upstairs.

I inhaled the scent of potatoes and of summer and of family.

In a month, I would be heading back to a completely usual and danger-free Hogwarts.

 _Anything school can throw at me, I can take_ , I thought as I ran to get myself some food.

 _After all, I've already been through the worst years of my life._

 _Now it's time for the best._

 **Yay! This story has been going on for a year and a half, and it's finally ending! What did you think? Was the ending up to par?**

 **Hey, please don't forget to review- I've noticed a disturbing decrease in reviews lately, and now that the story's over, you can now not only leave me a chapter-specific review, but how you liked or disliked the story as a whole! Aly's character, the characters of her friends, the minute details, the plot- no part of** ** _Fourth Year_** **is too big or too small to be talked about!**

 **(Also- today, September 22, is our least favorite Hufflepuff girl's birthday. Give it up for Jamie Mathieson!)**

 **Don't forget, the first chapter of** ** _First Year_** **is going up October first (and EDIT:** ** _First Year_** **is now completely finished, and the first chapter of** ** _Second Year_** **will be posted June 11th)! It's a wonderful story.**

 **I finished this story on 8.31.16, and finished typing it up yesterday, 9.21.16. Thank you all so much for being a part of the Salinger Year family during this tumultuous time in Aly's life. It's been a wonderful ride, and I can't wait to see all of you amazing readers back October first for the very first year of Aly's story!**

 **~atrfla**


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